主题：【新闻】联想并购 IBM PC -- 任爱杰

Corporate China muscles in on American turf

December 10, 2004

From prey to predator: the West hasn't seen anything yet, writes William Pesek.

Anyone who is shocked that a coveted part of one-time Wall Street bellwether Big Blue is now in Chinese hands had better get used to it, and fast.

"It's just started," says Donald Straszheim, president of California-based Straszheim Global Advisors, of what could be the most significant business trend of the decade: Chinese companies rapidly becoming more "internationally acquisitive."

Yesterday, China's mergers and acquisitions boom moved into high gear when Lenovo Group agreed to pay $US1.25 billion ($A1.65 billion) for IBM's personal computer business. It is the biggest acquisition of a US company by a Chinese competitor, and it lifts China's largest PC maker to third in the global rankings.

As Chinese companies move from prey to predator, they are also sitting on a powerful advantage: a possible currency revaluation. If the yuan rises the 10 per cent, 20 per cent or even 40 per cent analysts expect, overseas acquisitions of household-name companies and properties become that much cheaper. In other words, we haven't seen anything yet from China.

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AdvertisementEven with an undervalued yuan, China is carrying out a two-phase mergers and acquisitions strategy. Phase one, Straszheim says, focuses on locking up foreign sources of commodities that China needs to feed its economic rise.

The second phase, which is just getting under way, features Chinese acquiring household-name companies to boost global sales and distribution capabilities. Since brands take time to build, it's logical for companies like Lenovo, household-appliance maker Haier Group or phone-equipment maker Huawei Technologies to look for quick entry points into the US.

"Many American companies or brands that are struggling aren't being well managed or otherwise are out of favour may be rejuvenated with a new Chinese partner," Straszheim says. "Maybe a China buyer will bail you out of that awful stock."

Chinese companies are also sitting on a powerful advantage: a possible currency revaluation.Lenovo is emblematic of China's global ambitions, especially as the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games approach. Scooping up IBM will boost Lenovo's name recognition, amplifying the benefits of its Olympics investments. Expect other Chinese companies to follow Lenovo's lead in the next few years. The lead-up to 2008 will be a coming out party for corporate China.

This may be an eye-opener for US executives receiving overtures from Chinese competitors. China's per-capita income is about a seventh of the average US consumer. And for all the excitement about its outlook, China has a dearth of internationally known companies that operate on a global scale and market their products abroad.

China is often seen as the world's factory floor; a place to harness cheap labour to boost profits in the West, not a direct competitor to corporate boardrooms. Yet as Lenovo shows, Chinese companies are going global.

It almost seems enough to have US executives lobbying the Bush Administration to stop pressuring China to strengthen the yuan. Currently, it's pegged at 8.3 yuan to the dollar, a level the US claims gives China an unfair trade advantage.

A stronger yuan also makes the IBMs of the world cheaper for growth-hungry Chinese companies. All this may confront a pro-business White House with a be-careful-what-you-wish-for situation on China's currency.

There are risks aplenty for China. One is how Chinese companies with little experience running operations overseas will successfully integrate a well-established US company. Or will finicky consumers around the globe buy products from a lesser-known company? Will they pay up for personal computers made by little-known Lenovo?

Still, Lenovo's IBM purchase is symbolic of a shift in technology manufacturing and, more generally, growth to Asia. This region isn't only home to the world's two biggest consumer-electronics makers and top three digital camera makers, but also many of its fastest-growing economies. Get ready, America - corporate China is coming faster than you may have dared to believe. Bloomberg