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Fosun Group remains committed to its global buying spree despite concerns that its earmarking of $6bn in assets for disposal signals a retreat from overseas investment, according to people who have advised the Chinese conglomerate.
为复星集团(Fosun Group)提供咨询的人士表示，这家中国民营企业集团仍致力于开展全球收购活动，尽管有人担忧，该集团拟出售60亿美元资产是有意撤出海外投资的信号。
The company, known for its leisure and entertainment holdings such as France’s Club Med and a stake in Canada’s Cirque du Soleil, plans to sell off steel and mining businesses while raising its stakes in global financial, health and tourism companies, the people said.
这些人士透露，以休闲娱乐资产——如法国的地中海俱乐部(Club Med)，以及在加拿大太阳马戏团(Cirque du Soleil)所持股份——闻名的复星，计划出售钢铁和采矿业务，同时增持其在全球金融、医疗和旅游公司的股份。
During the past three weeks alone the group has bought up four companies on three continents for a total of $1.6bn. It has acquired Gland Pharma in India, UK football club Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brazilian fund manager Rio Bravo Investimentos, and has taken a stake in the Portuguese lender Banco Comercial Português.
仅在过去三周里，该集团总计斥资16亿美元，收购了三大洲的四家公司。它买下了印度制药企业Gland Pharma、英国足球俱乐部狼队(Wolverhampton Wanderers)和巴西基金管理公司Rio Bravo Investimentos，还入股葡萄牙商业银行(Banco Comercial Português)。
But Fosun has suffered set backs over the past year, with several deals collapsing after the brief disappearance of its chairman in December. Analysts have questioned the group’s financial position and the ability of many of its overseas investments to generate a profit.
但复星在过去一年遭遇多次挫折，其董事长在去年12月失联几天后，数笔交易夭折。同时分析师们质疑该集团的财务状况和不少海外投资的盈利能力。
“Fosun’s very high debt, the small profit contributions from acquired entities, and limited improvement in its operating cash flow remain key risks for its credit profile,” S&P Global said in a recent note.
“复星的债务很高、收购来的实体对利润贡献较小、营运现金流改善有限，这些仍是其信用状况面临的主要风险，”标普全球(S&P Global)在最近一份简报中表示。
At the end of last year, the ratio of debt to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation at Fosun’s industrial operations was 16.9, up from 9.1 a year earlier, according to S&P Global.
标普全球数据显示，截至去年底，复星的债务与利息、税项、折旧及摊销前利润(EBITDA)之比为16.9，高于一年前的9.1。
In view of the high level of debt and limited turnover from many of Fosun’s recently acquired businesses, Standard & Poor’s has kept its rating on the company at junk levels. Resources and steel have become sore spots, after both units made losses in 2015.
鉴于复星近期收购的许多企业债务较高，营业额却有限，标普将其对该公司的评级维持在垃圾级。资源和钢铁已成为痛处，这两个部门在2015年出现亏损。
The resources business, which includes mining, lost Rmb436m last year, while steel lost nearly Rmb1bn. Some of Fosun’s newer businesses fared much better. Internet finance, for example, ran at a loss in 2014 but generated Rmb105m in profit last year.
资源业务（包括矿业）去年亏损4.36亿元人民币，而钢铁业务亏损近10亿元人民币。复星的某些新业务表现要好得多。例如，曾在2014年录得亏损的互联网金融，去年产生1.05亿元人民币利润。
The announcement last week that Fosun had earmarked Rmb30bn-40bn ($4.5bn-$6bn) in assets for sale, or about 13 per cent of its total holdings, led to speculation that it was now making a retreat from businesses abroad.
上周复星宣布将300亿至400亿元人民币（合45亿至60亿美元）的资产——相当于总资产的大约13%——列为待出售资产，此举引发外界猜测该集团将撤出境外企业。
But the people who have advised Fosun on its global strategy said the plan signalled a redoubling of its strategy to invest more capital abroad, while attempting to ditch lossmaking assets.
但是，为复星提供全球战略建议的上述人士表示，该计划标志着复星将加强在境外投资更多资本的战略，同时试图脱手亏损资产。
By selling off these assets and paring debt, the company hopes to improve its credit rating. That in turn would lower the financing costs of running its insurance business and allow it to make more acquisitions, the people said.
通过出售这些资产和削减债务，该公司希望提高其信用评级。上述人士表示，这进而将降低运行其保险业务的融资成本，让它得以进行更多收购。
Fosun and several other Chinese insurers have adopted their own version of the so-called Berkshire Hathaway model for funding growth, in which premiums from the insurance businesses fuel new investments. The lower the cost of financing Fosun’s insurance business, the lower the cost of making overseas acquisitions.
复星和中国其他数家保险公司都采用了自己版本的所谓伯克希尔哈撒韦(Berkshire Hathaway)增长融资模式，即利用来自保险业务的保费收入为新投资提供资金。复星保险业务的融资成本越低，海外收购的成本也会越低。
