Shopping sprees can be fun. But as the acquisitive Chinese conglomerate Anbang has found, deciding what to do with the purchases afterwards can be more difficult.
疯狂购物可以让人快乐。但贪婪并购的中国企业集团安邦(Anbang)已经发现,在收购之后,对所购企业做决策可能是件更难的事。
Anbang has been an enthusiastic buyer of companies over the past 18 months. Its deals, including the art deco Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, a Korean insurer and a Belgian bank, have taken it a long way from its roots in Chinese car insurance.
过去18个月,安邦一直在大力地进行企业并购。安邦达成的多笔收购——包括具有艺术风格的纽约华尔道夫酒店(Waldorf Astoria Hotel)、一家韩国保险公司及一家比利时银行——已经让该公司远离了其根源所在的中国汽车保险业务。
This week the ambitious group moved further into the leisure industry, agreeing a $6.5bn deal for the US group Strategic Hotels & Resorts and making a $13bn bid for Starwood Hotels, owner of the Sheraton chain.
本周,这家雄心勃勃的集团进一步进军休闲产业,同意斥资65亿美元收购美国集团Strategic Hotels & Resorts,并报价130亿美元收购喜达屋酒店及度假村集团(Starwood Hotels & Resorts)——喜来登(Sheraton)连锁酒店的母公司。
For the hotel executives and bankers negotiating with Anbang, the process is likely to have been difficult — even frustrating. “They’re very, very tough negotiators,” says one person who has dealt with the group.
对与安邦谈判的酒店高管和银行家而言,这个过程可能非常艰难——甚至令人感到挫败。一位与安邦打过交道的人士称:“他们是非常、非常强硬的谈判者。
“They will wear you down. They’ll push and push on every point. If they don’t like something, they start speaking Chinese. And if you disagree with something they say, they say it’s the Chinese way. They grind on every point.”
“他们会磨得你筋疲力尽。他们会在每个点上一步步逼你。如果遇到他们不喜欢的,他们就开始说中文。如果你不同意他们说的,他们就称这是中国人的方式。他们每一个点上都要硬磨。”
Others who have dealt with Anbang say it is fast and decisive, and tends to hire the best advisers. They note that Wu Xiaohui , its low-profile chairman, makes all the big decisions.
还有一些与安邦打过交道的人表示,安邦行动迅速而果断,往往聘请最好的顾问。他们指出,所有重大决策都由安邦低调的董事长吴小晖做出。
Anbang’s tough stance does not end when the paperwork is signed, as staff at Vivat, the Dutch insurer it bought in February last year, can attest. The