韩国目前的使命是提升其国际形象。上月，该国与阿联酋签署了首份核出口协议，价值200亿美元。国营的韩国国家石油公司(Korea National Oil Corp)已拨出65亿美元用于海外收购。现在，韩国国民年金公团(NPS)又宣布，将斥资多至1亿英镑，将所持伦敦盖特威克机场的股份从1.3%提升至12%。在作为20国集团(G20)轮值主席国的一年，韩国似乎已下定决心要证明自己的全球资历。
孤立来看，对于拥有2400亿美元投资组合，但通常有四分之三以固定收益形式持有，仅有十分之一投资于海外的NPS来说，投资盖特威克机场似乎颇具风险。去年，这家伦敦第二大机场的客运量下降了5%，仅有一条跑道令该机场显得先天不足——至少目前是这样。
不过，最重要的是市场时机的选择。过去3个月，旅客人数开始回升，而该机场受监管的回报率能有效防止通胀。收购价格看上去很合理，与数年前养老及基础设施基金对英国受监资产基础(Regulatory Asset Base)提供的30%溢价相比，这个价格与盖特威克机场的受监资产基础大致相符。此外，该机场的大股东Global Infrastructure Partners已通过伦敦城市机场(London City Airport)证明了自己的专业技能。
但整个交易过程让人怀疑，NPS不过是一个韩国外交政策工具。韩国总统李明博(Lee Myung Bak)的朋友、NPS董事长全光宇(Jun Kwang-woo)回答道，尽管可能存在交叉，但他的投资决策是独立的。不过，具有讽刺意味的是，NPS将英国在监管方面的确定性作为投资的理由之一，可恰恰就是英国监管部门命令西班牙法罗里奥集团(Ferrovial)拆分英国机场管理局(BAA)的，由此导致2006年的收购毁于一旦。政商界限模糊的不只是韩国。
Lex专栏是由FT评论家联合撰写的短评，对全球经济与商业进行精辟分析
译者/陈云飞
South Korea is on a mission to raise its international profile. Last month, the country signed its first nuclear export deal, worth $20bn, with the United Arab Emirates. The state-run Korea National Oil Corp has lined up $6.5bn for overseas acquisitions. Now the National Pension Service has said it will spend up to £100m to increase its stake in London's Gatwick airport to 12 per cent from 1.3. In the year that South Korea sits as president of the Group of 20, Seoul seems determined to prove its global credentials.
In isolation, the Gatwick investment seems risky for a fund used to holding three-quarters of its $240bn portfolio in fixed income and only a 10th abroad. Last year, passenger numbers at London's second airport fell 5 per cent and the single runway leaves the airport inherently constrained – for now.
Timing the market, though, is everything. In the past three months, passengers have begun to come back and the airport's regulated returns make it an effective inflation hedge. The buy-in price seems fair and roughly in line with Gatwick's regulated asset base versus premiums of 30 per cent that pension and infrastructure funds offered for UK regulated assets a few years ago. Furthermore, majority owner Global Infrastructure Partners has proved its expertise at London City airport.
The whole process, though, stokes suspicions that the NPS is acting as an instrument of South Korean foreign policy. Chairman Jun Kwang-woo, a friend of the president, Lee Myung-bak, replies that, while there may be overlap, his investment decisions are independent. Still, it is ironic that the NPS has cited British regulatory certainty as one reason for its investment given that it was UK regulators who ordered Spain's Ferrovial to break up the British Airport Authority, so dismantling the original 2006 acquisition. It's not just in South Korea that the line between business and politics is blurred.
http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001031163
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