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Not King Coal
不是煤老大
The Rothschild-Bakrie marriage hits the rocks
羅斯柴爾德與巴克利聯姻遭遇危機
IN AN early episode of Sergeant Bilko, a 1950s TV comedy, the eponymous hero rents an empty store.
上世紀五十年代的電視喜劇《畢爾克警長》中有這么一個情節，主人公畢爾克盤下了一個空店面，
His fellow soldiers, convinced that the army's smartest operator sees a business opportunity, beg to be made partners.
他的戰友們堅信，這位軍營中最聰明的指揮官看準了一個商機，苦苦要求與他一起干。
Not all do well out of the deal.
合作中遇到很多不快。
Nat Rothschild also has a name that inspires confidence among investors. The scion of a European banking dynasty,
羅斯柴爾德在投資者中同樣享有較高的信任度，這位是歐洲銀行王朝的后裔。
Mr Rothschild raised ￡707m to create his own empty store, a London-listed cash shell named Vallar.
斥資7.07億英鎊也創立了他自己的一個空店面，倫敦上市的一個現金空殼Vallar，
He then used the cash to buy stakes in two coal-mining ventures in Indonesia associated with the Bakrie group, a family-owned conglomerate.
之后他用這些資金購進印尼家族航母公司巴克利集團旗下兩個礦業公司的股份。
Bumi PLC, the British-based company that emerged with Mr Rothschild as co-chairman, appealed to cautious punters who might otherwise have shied away from risky commodity bets in faraway places.
羅斯柴爾德先生也是英國布米能源的董事長，這家公司對那些不喜歡高風險的謹慎型投資者很有吸引力。
But the marriage of British finance and Indonesian business is on the rocks, and investors are sore.
但英國資金與印尼商機的聯姻就要破裂，投資者苦不甘言。
On February 3rd the Bakrie family and Samin Tan, an Indonesian businessman, called on Bumi's shareholders to unseat Mr Rothschild from the board.
2月3日，巴克利家族和印尼商人薩門?湯呼吁Bumi公司的把羅斯柴爾德從董事長的位子下拉下來。
The move came after months of boardroom strife, which began when the Bakries sold half of their stake to Mr Tan, to pay off debts.
董事會內部沖突已持續數月。此前巴克利為償還債務，將其所持股份的一半出售給湯先生，于是起了爭端。
It worsened last November when Mr Rothschild called for a radical ‘cleaning up' of the balance-sheet and corporate culture of Bumi's Indonesian affiliate.
去年11月，羅斯柴爾德先生要求對Bumi印尼分公司的資產負債和企業文化進行徹底清洗，沖突愈演愈烈。
Bumi's share price is down by two-fifths from a year ago.
股價也比一年前跌了五分之二。
Few in Indonesia were surprised by the clash.
在印尼，幾乎沒有人會對這場沖突感到大驚小怪。
The Bakries have commercial and political clout, and are used to getting their own way.
巴克利在商業上和政治上具有很大影響力，一向我行我素。
In Britain the spat has added to investors' concerns that a premium London listing is too easily awarded to companies that have controlling shareholders,
在英國，沖突加劇了投資者的擔心，他們認為，對于控股公司以及不安定地區的風險經營，
as well as risky operations, in unstable places.
倫敦上市公司的回報太過容易。
Mining and oil companies account for some 30% of the value of London's stockmarket, about twice the global weighting.
礦業、石油公司占倫敦股市價值的30%左右，幾乎是其他股市總和的兩倍。
Some of them are established firms, such as BHP Billiton, BP and Shell, but they also include a newer breed of mining stocks,
它們中有些是實體性的公司，如必和必拓、英國石油和殼牌。
such as ENRC and Bumi, which are ostensibly British companies but the balance of power among shareholders lies elsewhere.
但也有一些是礦業股票的衍生公司，如歐亞資源和布米能源，它們表面上看是英國公司，但實際股份控制權在別處。
The clashes between Mr Rothschild and his Indonesian partners show that his model of bolting British governance standards onto a foreign firm is defective, says a fund manager in London.
倫敦的一位基金管理人表示，羅斯柴爾德先生與其印尼合作伙伴的沖突表明，這種將英國公司的治理方法應用于外國公司的模式存在缺陷。
Fund managers who don't like the way a company is managed can in principle steer clear of it.
一般來說，不喜歡這種公司管理方式的基金管理人能夠避開這樣的公司，
But a company that qualifies for a London listing is also a candidate for inclusion in stockmarket indices,
但是一家公司有資格在倫敦上市，就有可能被用以計算工業。
such as the FTSE 100, an industry benchmark.
基準FTSE100等股市指數，
Low-cost funds that track such indices are obliged to buy these stocks whatever their merits.
追隨這種指數的低成本基金不得不購買這種股票，不管它有沒有投資價值。
And active fund managers can ill afford to steer clear of too many mining stocks or their portfolios might trail the overall market.
那些積極的基金管理人可能無法避開太多的礦業股或者礦業股組合，他們也許會追逐大市。
Set-ups like Bumi's seem designed to tap into this captive pool of capital.
布米能源等公司的組建似乎就是用來圈錢。
Ernest Bilko would admire the ingenuity. But investors deserve better.
歐尼斯特·畢爾克也會對這種天才的做法羨慕不已。但投資者理應得到更高的回報。
