评论
打印
It was a moment to savour for Arnaud Montebourg, France’s flamboyant economy minister who carries the torch for the interventionist left in President François Hollande’s Socialist government.
就在法国政府为通用电气(GE)收购阿尔斯通(Alstom)扫除障碍后，法国工业部长阿诺德•蒙特布赫(Arnaud Montebourg)宣布，在与通用电气的斗争中取得了胜利。
At a dramatic press conference relayed live on television, he proclaimed victory in his tussle with General Electric, titan of US industrial capitalism, over the terms of its takeover of much of the energy group Alstom, symbol of French engineering prowess.
蒙特布赫是在一场电视直播的记者招待会上作出这一声明的。此前，法国政府与通用电气围绕对能源集团阿尔斯通的收购案展开了一场博弈。通用电气是美国工业资本的巨头，而阿尔斯通则是法国工程实力的象征。
“It is a victory for Alstom, a success for France and undeniably a political success for the return in force of the state in the economy,” Mr Montebourg said.
对于蒙特布赫来说，这是值得回味的一幕。这位为人张扬的部长，一直是法国总统弗朗索瓦•奥朗德(François Hollande)政府中，左倾“干预派”的代表人物。
For him, the key condition of the deal was for the state to become Alstom’s biggest shareholder, acquiring a 20 per cent stake. That will make the French government GE’s main partner in the three areas where GE and Alstom will have 50:50 joint ventures – in power grid operations, renewables and nuclear turbines, with the state holding an additional “golden share” in the latter.
蒙特布赫表示：“这是阿尔斯通的胜利，也是法国的胜利。无可否认的是，这还是政府对经济影响力在政治上的成功回归。”
In the end, GE got most of what it really wanted, swallowing whole Alstom’s global coal and gas-fired turbine business. But for Mr Montebourg and the government, an important and longstanding principle of French industrial policy has been upheld: the central role of the state.
对他来说，该交易的一个关键条件是法国政府将收购阿尔斯通20%的股份，成为阿尔斯通最大股东。这样，在通用电气和阿尔斯通将拥有对等股份的三家合资企业中（这三家企业的业务分别为电网运作、可再生能源和核电汽轮机），法国政府将成为通用电气的主要合作方。此外，法国政府还在三家合资企业中持有额外的“黄金股”。
There were differences within the government over the Alstom case. Until the last, Mr Montebourg’s preference was for a rival bid he solicited from Siemens. the German group, which ultimately joined forces with Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to propose a deal similar in structure to that eventually struck with GE.
最终，通用电气实现了多数它希望实现的目标，吞并了阿尔斯通整个全球煤炭和燃气涡轮业务。不过对蒙特布赫和法国政府来说，法国工业政策中一条重要而又长期持有的原则——法国政府的核心角色——得以遵循。
Mr Hollande was careful to remain neutral, his team clearly mindful of GE’s long record as a good corporate citizen in France.
法国政府内部在阿尔斯通收购案上也存在分歧。蒙特布赫直到最后一刻还倾向于他从德国集团西门子(Siemens)那里获得的要约。西门子集团联合日本三菱重工(Mitsubishi Heavy Industries)提出了在股权结构上与通用最终达成的交易类似的收购要约。
But there were no arguments over the necessity to step in when news of Alstom’s original plan to make a clean sale of its energy business to GE leaked in April.
奥朗德则对此十分小心地保持中立，他的团队明显对通用电气在法国作为优良“企业公民”的记录十分关注。
“It was perfectly natural for the government to intervene,” said a senior presidential aide, citing the strategic nature of Alstom’s operations, particularly in nuclear power. “Such a deal would have been impossible for a French company in the US,” he added.
不过，今年4月，就在阿尔斯通将能源部门完全出售给通用电气的最初计划被泄露之时，两者对于法国政府出手干涉的必要性并无争议。
