中国政府支持中国国有化工巨头中化集团(Sinochem)对加拿大钾肥公司(PotashCorp)发出竞争性收购报价，有可能击败必和必拓(BHP Billiton) 390亿美元的敌意收购。此举突显了北京方面对获取全球资源的兴趣。
一位知情人士告诉英国《金融时报》，中化集团、中国铝业(Aluminum Corp of China)及其它中国国有资源公司，起初均一律回绝银行家有关竞购加拿大钾肥的试探。
但该人士接着表示，政府已鼓励中化对加拿大钾肥公司“表示兴趣”。在政府发出信号后，这家国有公司才开始考虑银行家们的提议。
中化是否会发起竞购目前尚不明朗。矿业分析师表示，必和必拓390亿美元开场报价的规模是最大的障碍，因为业内可与这家世界最大矿业集团财务实力相抗衡的私人公司寥寥无几。
但中国国有公司有获取巨额资金的渠道——或通过国有银行的软贷款，或通过中国主权财富基金(SWF)中国投资公司(China Investment Corp)的介入。中化集团通过旗下上市子公司中化化肥(Sinofert)，控制着中国几乎全部的钾肥进口。加拿大钾肥拥有中化化肥 22%的股权。
中国是全球最大的钾肥进口国。钾肥用于提高农作物收成。北京对这场竞购战的最新兴趣，是迄今为止其下述担忧的一个最强信号：即，如果必和必拓成功收购加拿大钾肥，那可能会对中国的粮食安全产生长远影响。
北京已经将粮食自给列为国内优先考虑事项，以确保粮食价格维持在13亿公民可承受的水平，并保证粮食供给。必和必拓每股130美元的报价提出已两周多时间，但迄今尚未有竞争性收购报价出现。不过，人们的猜测现在主要集中在一家中国国有公司与一家加拿大公司联手。
任何中国牵头的对加拿大钾肥公司的竞购，都可能在加拿大遭遇政治反弹，尤其是钾肥藏量丰富的萨斯喀彻温省。该省政府对竞购的最终结果有着决定权。中化从未做过如此大规模的海外交易。2009年，在历时6个月的谈判之后，它未能与澳大利亚化肥集团 Nufarm完成交易。
译者/何黎
http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001034472
The Chinese government has backed Sinochem, the state-owned chemicals giant, to pursue a counterbid that could trump BHP Billiton’s $39bn hostile offer for PotashCorp in a sign of Beijing’s interest in securing global resources.
Sinochem, Aluminum Corp of China, and other Chinese state resource companies initially shunned bankers pitching counterbid ideas for the Canadian fertiliser company, a person familiar with the matter told the Financial Times.
But the government has encouraged Sinochem to “take an interest” in PotashCorp, according to the person. Only after a signal from the government did the state-owned company begin to entertain bankers’ proposals.
The likelihood of a counterbid remains unclear. Mining analysts say that the size of BHP’s $39bn opening offer is the biggest impediment, because few other private companies in the sector can match the financial strength of the world’s biggest mining group.
But Chinese government-owned companies have access to deep pool of funds, either through soft loans from state banks or via the involvement of China Investment Corp, the country’s sovereign wealth fund. The Sinochem Group controls almost all potash imports into China through Sinofert, its listed subsidiary. PotashCorp owns a 22 per cent stake in Sinofert.
China is the world’s largest importer of potash, a mineral that is used to enhance crop yields. Beijing’s new interest in the bid is the strongest sign yet of its concern that a successful BHP acquisition could have long-term implications for its food security.
Beijing has made grain self-sufficiency a domestic priority to ensure affordable food prices and dependable supplies to 1.3bn citizens. More than two weeks after BHP’s $130 per share offer, no counterbid has emerged. But speculation now centres on a Chinese state-backed entity partnering with a Canadian company.
Any Chinese-led counterbid for PotashCorp would carry risks of a political backlash in Canada and especially Saskatchewan, the potash-rich province whose government has sway over the bid’s outcome. Sinochem has never done a deal of this size overseas. It failed to complete a deal with Nufarm, an Australian fertilisers group, in 2009 after six months of talks.
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