2016年经济学人 一周要闻 辉瑞世纪大并购愿望恐落空 合并计划胎死腹中

 

Business this week

本周经济要闻

Pfizer called off its $160 billion merger¹ with Allergan after the US Treasury² proposed new rules that would severely³ curtail⁴ the benefits of “inversion” takeovers (where an American company buys a foreign one in order to reduce its corporate⁵-tax bill). Allergan is listed in New York but has its corporate headquarters in lower-taxed Ireland, which is where Pfizer would have based the newly combined company. Such deals have become politically toxic⁶ in America, but the White House denied that the new regulations were intended specifically to scupper the Pfizer-Allergan deal.

继美国财政部颁布新规，将严厉打击“税收倒置”收购（即美国企业收购外国企业到达减税目的），辉瑞制药（Pfizer）已中止与艾尔建（Allergan）1600亿的并购交易。艾尔建的注册地在纽约，但其总部却位于税率更低的爱尔兰，原本辉瑞制药打算将合并后的公司总部也设在爱尔兰。如今，凡涉及类似倒置收购的并购交易在美国都已经不可行了，不过白宫方面否认新规有针对辉瑞-艾尔建这起并购交易的意思。

America's Justice Department filed a lawsuit⁷ to stop the $25 billion merger of Halliburton and Baker⁸ Hughes, the world's second- and third-largest oilfield-services companies, citing antitrust concerns. The merger was announced in November 2014 but opposed by some big oil companies. They worried that diminished competition in oil services would put a further squeeze on profits already hit by the fall in oil prices.

美国司法部提起反垄断诉讼，意图阻止油田服务商哈里伯顿（Halliburton）以250亿美元收购贝克休斯（Baker Hughes）（哈里伯顿和贝克休斯分别是世界第二，第三大油田服务公司）。两公司于2014年11月宣布合并，当时遭到一些大型石油公司的反对。它们担心石油服务行业竞争压力的削弱会进一步挤压原本就因油价下跌而减少的利润空间。

1 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

2 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

3 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

4 curtail   

vt.截短，缩短；削减

参考例句：

• The government hopes to curtail public spending.政府希望缩减公共事业开支。
• The minister had to curtail his visit.部长不得不缩短访问日期。

5 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

6 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

7 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

8 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。