评论
打印
As the largest Chinese technology deal in the US, Lenovo’s $2.9bn purchase of Motorola’s handset business last week will be closely scrutinised by a US government committee that reviews transactions for national security concerns.
中国在美国规模最大的科技企业并购案——上周联想(Lenovo)以29亿美元收购摩托罗拉(Motorola)手机业务的交易，将面临美国跨部门机构严密的国家安全审查。
As part of the purchase from Google, Lenovo will assume 2,000 patents and receive a licence to other Google smartphone intellectual property, which will be combed through by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (Cfius).
作为与谷歌(Google)之间收购交易的一部分，联想将获得2000项专利以及谷歌其他智能手机知识产权的授权，这些交易内容将受到美国外国投资委员会(Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States，以下简称Cfius)的仔细审查。
However, most of the valuable and sensitive patents are being kept by Google, while Motorola’s business that has government contracts is part of another company, people familiar with the matter said. The deal also involves hardware, not software, and Chinese-made handsets, like those manufactured by Huawei, are already sold in the US.
然而，据熟悉该交易的人士称，绝大多数有价值且敏感的专利仍将由谷歌持有，而摩托罗拉业务中与美国政府有关的合同也归属于另一家公司。同时，交易内容只包括硬件而非软件，同时中国企业制造的手机，例如华为(Huawei)制造的手机，已经在美国境内销售。
As a result, Lenovo’s acquisition may not face major challenges though it may have to meet certain conditions requested by Cfius to get approval, people familiar with the matter said.
因此，熟悉内情的人士称，联想的收购估计不会面临重大挑战，尽管该公司为了过关可能要满足Cfius提出的某些条件。
Also, Motorola’s small presence in the US with less than a 5 per cent market share could help Lenovo, though its goal is to increase sales. Concern over whether facilities or offices are close to locations that could raise security worries is not expected to be a big issue.
另外，摩托罗拉在美国市场不足5%的微小份额，也对联想有利，尽管其目标是提高销售。而厂房或办公室位置所引发的安全忧虑预计也不会是太棘手的问题。
One of the unknowns is whether the deal will face significant political opposition, which so far has not arisen but it is early in the process. While Lenovo has successfully navigated the Cfius process in the past, its growing ambitions in the US could make it a bigger political target, especially in the era of Edward Snowden and worries over leaks.
未知因素之一是，这笔交易是否会遭到重大的政治反对。迄今尚未出现此类反对，但交易仍处早期阶段。虽然联想以往曾成功通过Cfius的审查，但该公司对美国市场不断增强的雄心可能使其成为一个更大的政治目标，特别是在爱德华·斯诺登(Edward Snowden)和泄密忧虑满天飞的时代。
The Treasury Department, which oversees Cfius, declined to comment. The committee also includes the Departments of Defence, Homeland Security, Justice and others.
统领Cfius的美国财政部拒绝发表评论。美国外国投资委员会还包括美国国防部、国土安全部、司法部等其它部门。
Lenovo’s Motorola deal comes a week after it announced a $2.3bn acquisition of IBM’s low-end server business, which will also be closely reviewed by Cfius but might not encounter major issues. It is the second Lenovo deal with IBM, coming more than eight years after Lenovo acquired IBM’s PC business, including the ThinkPad.
在联想收购摩托罗拉手机业务的一周前，该公司刚刚宣布以23亿美元收购IBM的低端服务器业务。该项交易也将受到Cfius的严密审查，但预计不会遇到太大麻烦。与IBM的服务器交易是继8年多前，联想收购该公司包括“Thinkpad”品牌在内的个人电脑业务后的第二单买卖。
Lenovo had to make some compromises to win Cfius clearance for the PC business, including giving up sales to US government customers. Lenovo also secured Cfius approval for two other deals in 2012.
当年为了赢取Cfius对个人电脑业务收购案的批准，联想曾做出一些妥协，包括放弃向美国政府客户销售产品。2012年，联想也曾在另外两笔交易中获得了Cfius的放行。
That record and the fact that Lenovo is a relatively familiar company in the US should also help it in the Cfius process. But lawmakers are more sensitive to Chinese takeovers, most recently in the sale of pork producer Smithfield Foods to Shuanghui International for $4.7bn.
有了这一记录，加上联想在美国是相对为人熟知的公司，这些因素都有利于联想通过Cfius的审查程序。但美国议员们对中国收购方比较敏感，最近的例子是双汇国际(Shuanghui International)以47亿美元收购猪肉生产商史密斯菲尔德食品公司(Smithfield Foods)的交易。
It represented the largest Chinese acquisition of a US company, and prompted a bipartisan group of senators to raise concerns about food security and other issues. Still, the Smithfield deal was cleared by Cfius last September.
该项交易是中国公司对美国企业规模最大的收购案，一度引发美国两党参议员共同提出对食品安全等问题的担忧。尽管如此，这笔收购案仍在去年9月得到Cfius审核通过。
