【英语科技】国美“停战” 贝恩如释重负

Private-equity firm Bain Capital LLC can breathe a sigh of relief at the rare truce brokered in a war for control of China's best-known electronics retailer -- and, for now, enjoy the returns on its risky investment in the company.

On Thursday, Gome Electrical Appliances Ltd. said it had reached an accord with its imprisoned founder, Huang Guangyu, to bring two of his representatives -- his lawyer and his sister -- onto the company's board. Shares of the Hong Kong-listed company jumped as investors saw the agreement as a sign the company would now be freer to focus less on corporate infighting and more on expanding the business. On Friday, the shares closed at 3.18 Hong Kong dollars (41 U.S. cents), up 17% from their level before the announcement.

The particular circumstances surrounding Bain's dealings with Gome and Mr. Huang are unique. But like other foreign private-equity players looking to profit from China's growth, Bain faces the challenge of exercising influence without actually having control. For private equity, China offers minority stakes at best, not leveraged buyouts.

All considered, Boston-based Bain has done well with Gome. Its roughly 10% stake, at least on paper, is now worth about US$684 million, or nearly three times the US$233 million it agreed to invest in June 2009.

Not bad, considering the guerrilla warfare Mr. Huang, 41 years old, has waged against Gome's current, Bain-backed management, all while being under arrest, and later imprisoned, for insider trading, corruption and bribery.

Bain's investment in 2009 was an unusually chancy move, given the uncertainty surrounding Mr. Huang. Gome's founder and biggest investor -- he currently owns 32.47% of the company -- quickly dashed any hopes Bain might have harbored that he would sit idly by while the private-equity firm set about improving Gome's operations and repairing the company's damaged brand.

In August 2009, while being detained by Chinese authorities, Mr. Huang participated in a rights offering, thwarting Bain's efforts to increase its stake. This past September, he called a shareholders' meeting in a bid to oust his former protege, Chen Xiao, as chairman. Though shareholders blocked that move, they sided with Mr. Huang on another issue by preventing Gome from issuing new shares that would have diluted his holding.

But Bain had insurance of a sort. The convertible bonds it bought offered a 5% coupon and guaranteed it a return of at least 1.5 times its outlay. And while Mr. Huang was a wild card, Bain knew it had the support of the new chairman, Mr. Chen, as well as the board.

Gome is growing despite the management turmoil.

In the first half, it said profit rose 66% from a year earlier to 962.3 million yuan ($145 million) on the back of a 22% jump in revenue amid a recovery in China's economy.

Thursday's agreement prompted Nomura to raise its price target for Gome to HK$4.10, nearly 30% above Friday's close.

The truce with Mr. Huang looks fragile. The agreement noted that he had 'no current intention' to nullify management contracts between Gome and hundreds of stores he owns that aren't part of the listed company. Earlier, he had threatened to cancel those deals if the management changes he sought weren't approved. That kind of language suggests he is keeping his options open should warfare resume. And Gome still has lawsuits pending against Mr. Huang in relation to actions taken against him by securities regulators.

For now, Bain will be hoping that Mr. Huang chooses to take to heart the words of Sun Tzu. In 'The Art of War,' China's great military philosopher advised those contemplating war to 'let your object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.' If Mr. Huang views victory as a rise in the value of his stake in Gome, letting Bain and Mr. Chen get back to work while Mr. Huang's new eyes and ears on the board provide constructive input is the way to go. If victory means kicking out the interlopers, Bain will have its hands full for some time.

私募股权公司贝恩资本（Bain Capital LLC）可以松口气了，因为对中国最知名的电器零售商的控制权争夺战达成了一项难得的停战协定，现在，贝恩资本可以坐享其风险投资的回报了。

REUTERS国美创始人黄光裕。周四，国美电器控股有限公司说已经与身陷囹圄的创始人黄光裕达成一项协议，任命将他的两位代表，也就是他的律师和他的妹妹，为公司董事。投资者认为这一协议表明，国美现在将会更自由地将重心放在扩展业务上，而不是内部权力斗争，因此这家香港上市公司的股票有所上涨。周五，国美股票收盘于3.18港元（41美分），较协议宣布之前上涨了17%。

贝恩与国美以及黄光裕的交易所处的背景十分独特。但与其他希望从中国的增长中获利的外资私募股权公司一样，贝恩面临的挑战是，在没有实际控制的情况下执行影响力。对于私募股权，中国最多提供少数股权，而非杠杆收购。

考虑到以上所述，波士顿的贝恩公司与国美的这仗打得很漂亮。其所占的10%股权，至少协议上是这么写的，目前市值约6.84亿美元，几乎是2009年6月贝恩同意投资的2.33亿美元的三倍。

41岁的黄光裕与现由贝恩支持的国美管理层打起了游击战，这都是他因内幕交易、贪污和贿赂被捕而后入狱之时进行的。这样看来，这个结果不算糟。

考虑到黄光裕所面临的不确定性，贝恩2009年宣布投资是一个不同寻常的冒险举动。这位国美创始人兼最大股东目前拥有公司32.47%的股权，贝恩打算在黄光裕不干涉的情况下改善国美的运营和重塑公司受损名誉，而黄光裕很快就摧毁了这种希望。

2009年8月，黄光裕在被拘留期间参与了公司配股，挫败了贝恩试图增加股份的努力。今年9月，黄光裕召开股东大会，企图罢免曾经的“盟友”陈晓的董事主席职位。虽然各大股东阻止了这一企图，但他们在另一件事上与黄光裕站在了一起，即阻止国美发售新股票，这使他的股权免遭稀释。

但贝恩是有某种筹码的。其购买的可换股债券提供5%的利息，并且保证利润至少是投入的1.5倍。虽然黄光裕是一张未知牌，但贝恩知道有新任主席陈晓及董事会的支持。

尽管权力斗争激烈，国美仍在发展壮大。

公司说前半年利润较去年同期增长66%，达到9.623亿元（1.45亿美元），这得益于收入因中国经济复苏增长了22%。

周四的停战协议促使野村证券（Nomura）将其对国美的价格预期提升至4.1港元，比周五收盘水平高出近30%。

与黄光裕达成的停战协议看起来不牢靠。该协议指出，黄光裕“目前没有意向”废除国美和他所拥有的几百家非上市门店之间的合约。早些时候，他曾威胁，如果他要求的管理改革措施未通过，他就要取消这些合约。这种言辞表明，他对战争是否会继续仍保留自己的选择权。国美对黄光裕的起诉仍在进行，涉及证券监管部门对他采取的反制措施。

目前来看，贝恩希望黄光裕能够遵从孙子的教导。在《孙子兵法》中，这位中国伟大的军事家和思想家对那些思考战争的人提出建议，“兵贵胜，不贵久”。如果黄光裕认为胜利就是其所持国美股份增值，那么解决办法就是让贝恩和陈晓恢复工作，而由黄光裕在董事会上的新耳目提供建设性意见。如果胜利意味着将入侵者踢出局，那么贝恩在一段时间内就将忙得不可开交了。