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Business
商業(yè)報道
Brewing mergers
釀造商的并購
SABMiller's tale
SABMiller神話
Heroic Aussie beer-drinkers make Foster's a tempting takeover target
福斯特成為收購目標 澳大利亞啤酒消費者功不可沒
FOSTER'S, Australian for beer went one slogan.
有則廣告叫福斯特，澳洲人的啤酒。
Oddly, few Aussies sip the amber nectar.
但很奇怪，很少有澳洲人會品嘗這種琥珀色的佳釀。
In Britain, where it is ubiquitous, it is brewed by Heineken, a Dutch beermaker.
在英國情況卻是大不一樣，幾乎人人暢飲荷蘭人釀造的喜力啤酒。
Yet Foster's, Australia's largest brewer, looks appetising to SABMiller, the world's second-largest.
然而現(xiàn)在，澳洲最大的啤酒釀造商福斯特集團正逐漸引起世界第二大啤酒釀造商，英國南非米勒集團的興趣。
On September 21st the London-based firm seemed to end a long takeover battle by raising its cash bid for Foster's to A$9.9 billion.
9月21日這家總部位于倫敦的公司最終決定提高收購價，以99億澳元的價格收購福斯特集團。
The Foster's board has recommended accepting the offer.
福斯特集團董事會建議接受該收購價。
SABMiller, which has 10% of the global market, will acquire a business that generates barrels of cash.
南非米勒目前占有全球10%的市場份額。而且將要被其收購的福斯特集團將會為其帶來大量收入。
Australians chug an impressive 84 litres of beer a year.
澳洲人每年的啤酒消費量令人乍舌的達到84公升。
And though Aussies shun the insipid stuff with Foster's on the can,
盡管人們對啤酒罐上的福斯特標識不甚關注，
they love the company's Victoria Bitter,
但對該公司的Victoria Bitter牌啤酒卻鐘愛有加，
which is the nation's bestseller.
該啤酒正是全澳洲最暢銷的啤酒。
Foster's brews seven of the ten most popular beers in Oz and has half the domestic market by volume,
全澳洲十大最受歡迎的啤酒中就有七種是福斯特釀造的。
though its share has slipped over the years.
盡管在國內市場上福斯特集團的份額在不斷下跌，但仍達到50%。
Alas, like most wealthy drinkers,
與其他發(fā)達國家的消費者一般，
Australians are forsaking beer for wine and other unmanly tipples.
澳大利亞人飲酒習慣正逐漸傾向于葡萄酒及其它女性酒。
The domestic beer market, flat for the past 25 years,
國內的啤酒市場，只是由于人口數(shù)量的增加，
has remained so only because of a growing population.
才得以在過去25年中保持穩(wěn)定。
SABMiller can probably cut costs;
米勒也許能削減成本，
Foster's has been badly run.
福斯特卻已經(jīng)是經(jīng)營不善了。
Its expertise may help to win back market share and its global procurement operation will help to save cash.
其專業(yè)人士或許能幫助福斯特重獲市場份額，而且其全球采購計劃也能降低開支。
But as Olivier Nicola? of UBS, a bank, points out, synergies are limited.
但正如瑞銀集團的Olivier Nicolai所說的，合并的效果是有限的。
SABMiller, which has not done a big deal since 2005, may simply want to join the global trend towards consolidation.
自2005年以來，南非米勒集團的交易量一直不大，而其收購的目的就是向全球擴張。
It has low debts and lots of cash, so why not?
債務低，資金多，何樂而不為呢？
Because Australia is a mature market, grumble many shareholders.
因為澳大利亞的市場已經(jīng)成熟，因此眾多股東對此次收購怨聲一片。
Of all the global brewers, SABMiller has by far the biggest presence in emerging markets.
然而新興市場方面，在眾多啤酒釀造商中，南非米勒集團占有最大的市場份額。
Profits are thinner in such places, but beer drinking is growing healthily.
在這些地區(qū)雖然利潤不大，但啤酒消費市場卻在健康的發(fā)展當中。
Dirk Van Vlaanderen of Jefferies, a bank, notes that buying Foster's will only drag the emerging-market share of SABMiller's revenues down from 80% to 70% of the total.
杰弗瑞集團的Dirk Van Vlaanderen認為收購福斯特，會讓南非米勒總收入中來自新興市場的收入比例由80%下降為70%。
But growth-hungry investors are still miffed.
那些亟需發(fā)展的投資者們對此卻甚為不滿。
Analysts at Collins Stewart, a financial firm,
根據(jù)高林斯特投資銀行的分析師推測，
speculate that SABMiller wants to buy Foster's to make it harder for Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer, to swallow SABMiller.
南非米勒集團想借收購福斯特，來增加世界最大釀造商Anheuser-Busch Inbey對其收購的難度。
Others doubt that such a deal would happen for years, if ever.
也有人認為即使其想收購南非米勒，那也得耗費數(shù)年的時間。
And for a brewer aiming at world domination, a bigger SABMiller might be an even more tempting target.
而對于任何一家欲稱霸全球的釀造商來說，南非米勒越大，則誘惑力就越大。
