2016年经济学人 德国名企股东闹不和 双方陷冷战

 

German business

德国商业

Screwdrivers¹ drawn²

拉锯战

A shareholder³ stand-off in the Black Forest

黑森林里的股东对峙

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 backbone⁴ of the German economy.

你若曾奋力想组装起一个平板式包装的衣橱，那么该衣橱的木质组件很可能是由豪迈（Homag）公司生产的机器切割、打孔、抛光而成的。1960年，豪迈公司在黑森林深处的Schopfloch小镇成立。一些德国经济的支柱企业是业内的世界领跑者，却很少为人所知，豪迈公司便是其中之一。

But not all is well in Schopfloch. Gerhard Schuler, one of its founders⁵, now a sprightly⁶ 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 plunged⁷. 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的豪迈公司的情况并非一切如意。公司创始人之一，现年85岁高龄，精神矍铄的舒勒（Gerhard Schuler）正与他曾经的梦中情人——德意志参股上市公司（DBAG）闹不和。私募股权公司DBAG于1997年入股豪迈公司，而后持有豪迈60%的 股份。当豪迈公司2007年在证券市场上市时，DBAG保留了33%的股份，舒勒先生则手持小额股份，以名誉总裁的身份留任。然而，2008年豪迈公司生意惨淡，股票跳水。舒勒先生与众支持者对公司的走向倍感堪忧，继而纷纷入股，他们买下25.0%的股权，成立了有否决权的少数股权。

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却对此置之不理，反而在两年前将舒勒任命的三名委员踢出豪迈的监事会，用两位“更具国际化眼光”的成员替代之。自那时起，两方便进入拉锯相持阶段。

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 abruptly⁸ “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.

在上个月硝烟四起的股东大会上，两方争斗达到了高潮。舒勒及其盟友指责DBAG只关注眼前利益，向外国买家兜售的做法如“蝗虫”般贪婪。地方员工希望长期担任豪迈公司技术总监的高斯先生（Achim Gauss）恢复原职。今年5月23日，高斯先生突然以“个人原因”为由，辞去总监一职。高斯先生的离职同样引起了豪迈公司大客户，瑞典家具连锁公司宜家的堪忧。

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 knight⁹.

DBAG是德国资历最老的私募股权企业之一，显然与蝗虫无半点相像之处。DBAG的主管们坚称，公司在为豪迈的长远利益着想。不管怎样，豪迈是DBAG最大的一笔投资，而豪迈的股票的表现并不良好。DBAG所持的股份中，一半由其旗下两只投资基金操控，而其中一只计划于今年停止运作。因而DBAG部分退出的做法合情合理。DBAG的线人称，公司没道理强制抛股，这样做会削弱DBAG的影响力。与此同时，舒勒先生的团队正另寻救星。

More happily, Homag’s business is on the rebound¹⁰. Last year’s turnover¹¹ 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 capitalism¹² has gone too far.

更庆幸的是，豪迈的生意正开始反弹。去年豪迈的营业额为8亿英镑（11亿美元），接近危机前的最高额，德国境内三家子公司的关闭应该能降低成本。私人银行Bankhaus Lampe的舒奈尔（Gordon Schonell）说，“管理层现今所做的是对的。”但是对于舒勒先生，从家族企业向股东资本主义转变的有点离谱了。

1 screwdrivers   

n.螺丝刀( screwdriver的名词复数 )；螺丝起子；改锥；伏特加橙汁鸡尾酒

参考例句：

• No, I have everything: hammer, screwdrivers, all that stuff. 不用了，我什么都有了：锤子、螺丝刀，全套家伙。 来自休闲英语会话
• Aussies are injured each year by using sharp knives instead of screwdrivers. 每年有58个澳洲佬因使用锋利的刀子来代替螺丝刀而受伤。 来自互联网

2 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

3 shareholder   

n.股东，股票持有人

参考例句：

• The account department have prepare a financial statement for the shareholder.财务部为股东准备了一份财务报表。
• A shareholder may transfer his shares in accordance with the law.股东持有的股份可以依法转让。

4 backbone   

n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气

参考例句：

• The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
• The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。

5 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

6 sprightly   

adj.愉快的，活泼的

参考例句：

• She is as sprightly as a woman half her age.她跟比她年轻一半的妇女一样活泼。
• He's surprisingly sprightly for an old man.他这把年纪了，还这么精神，真了不起。

7 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

8 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

9 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

10 rebound   

v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回

参考例句：

• The vibrations accompanying the rebound are the earth quake.伴随这种回弹的振动就是地震。
• Our evil example will rebound upon ourselves.我们的坏榜样会回到我们自己头上的。

11 turnover   

n.人员流动率，人事变动率；营业额，成交量

参考例句：

• The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
• Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。

12 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。