評論
打印
German business
德國商業
Screwdrivers drawn
拉鋸戰
A shareholder stand-off in the Black Forest
黑森林里的股東對峙
If you have ever struggled to assemble a flat-pack wardrobe, the chances are that its wooden pieces were cut, drilled and finished on machines made by Homag. Founded in 1960 in Schopfloch, in the Black Forest, Homag is one of those little-known world champions that are the backbone of the German economy.
你若曾奮力想組裝起一個平板式包裝的衣櫥，那么該衣櫥的木質組件很可能是由豪邁（Homag）公司生產的機器切割、打孔、拋光而成的。1960年，豪邁公司在黑森林深處的Schopfloch小鎮成立。一些德國經濟的支柱企業是業內的世界領跑者，卻很少為人所知，豪邁公司便是其中之一。
But not all is well in Schopfloch. Gerhard Schuler, one of its founders, now a sprightly 85, is at war with Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (DBAG), a private-equity firm that was once his dream partner. After buying into the company in 1997 DBAG built up a stake of 60%. When Homag was floated on the stockmarket in 2007 it kept 33% and Mr Schuler stayed on as honorary chairman with a small stake.But business dipped in 2008 and the shares plunged. Mr Schuler and his supporters, worried about the direction the company was taking, started buying.They built a blocking minority of 25.01%.
然而位于 Schopfloch的豪邁公司的情況并非一切如意。公司創始人之一，現年85歲高齡，精神矍鑠的舒勒（Gerhard Schuler）正與他曾經的夢中情人——德意志參股上市公司（DBAG）鬧不和。私募股權公司DBAG于1997年入股豪邁公司，而后持有豪邁60%的 股份。當豪邁公司2007年在證券市場上市時，DBAG保留了33%的股份，舒勒先生則手持小額股份，以名譽總裁的身份留任。然而，2008年豪邁公司生意慘淡，股票跳水。舒勒先生與眾支持者對公司的走向倍感堪憂，繼而紛紛入股，他們買下25.0%的股權，成立了有否決權的少數股權。
That did not stop DBAG kicking Mr Schuler’s three appointees off Homag’s supervisory board two years ago and replacing them with people who were “more internationally minded”. Since then, the two sides have been at screwdrivers drawn.
DBAG卻對此置之不理，反而在兩年前將舒勒任命的三名委員踢出豪邁的監事會，用兩位“更具國際化眼光”的成員替代之。自那時起，兩方便進入拉鋸相持階段。
At a stormy shareholders’ meeting last month things came to a head. Mr Schuler and his allies accused DBAG of being a “locust” interested only inshort-term profit, and of selling out to a foreign buyer. Local staff want Achim Gauss, Homag’s long-standing technical director, who resigned abruptly “for personal reasons” on May 23rd, to be reinstated. IKEA, a Swedish furniture chain and Homag’s biggest customer, also expressed concern at Mr Gauss’s departure.
在上個月硝煙四起的股東大會上，兩方爭斗達到了高潮。舒勒及其盟友指責DBAG只關注眼前利益，向外國買家兜售的做法如“蝗蟲”般貪婪。地方員工希望長期擔任豪邁公司技術總監的高斯先生（Achim Gauss）恢復原職。今年5月23日，高斯先生突然以“個人原因”為由，辭去總監一職。高斯先生的離職同樣引起了豪邁公司大客戶，瑞典家具連鎖公司宜家的堪憂。
DBAG, one of Germany’s oldest private-equity firms, is not obviously locust-like. Its executives insist it is there for the long term. However, Homag is DBAG’s biggest investment and its shares have not performed well. Half of DBAG’s stake is owned by two of its investment funds, one of which is scheduled to wind up this year. So a partial exit would be logical. There is no reason for a forced sale,says a DBAG source: that would weaken DBAG’s influence. Meanwhile, Mr Schuler’s crowd are looking for a white knight.
DBAG是德國資歷最老的私募股權企業之一，顯然與蝗蟲無半點相像之處。DBAG的主管們堅稱，公司在為豪邁的長遠利益著想。不管怎樣，豪邁是DBAG最大的一筆投資，而豪邁的股票的表現并不良好。DBAG所持的股份中，一半由其旗下兩只投資基金操控，而其中一只計劃于今年停止運作。因而DBAG部分退出的做法合情合理。DBAG的線人稱，公司沒道理強制拋股，這樣做會削弱DBAG的影響力。與此同時，舒勒先生的團隊正另尋救星。
More happily, Homag’s business is on the rebound. Last year’s turnover of ￡800m ($1.1 billion) was near the pre-crisis peak, and the closing of three German subsidiaries should cut costs. Gordon Schonell of Bankhaus Lampe, a private bank, says that “the managers are doing the right things.” But for Mr Schuler the shift from family firm to shareholder capitalism has gone too far.
更慶幸的是，豪邁的生意正開始反彈。去年豪邁的營業額為8億英鎊（11億美元），接近危機前的最高額，德國境內三家子公司的關閉應該能降低成本。私人銀行Bankhaus Lampe的舒奈爾（Gordon Schonell）說，“管理層現今所做的是對的?！钡菍τ谑胬障壬?，從家族企業向股東資本主義轉變的有點離譜了。
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