2021年经济学人 PE和SPACS之间的爱恨情仇

Finance & economics

财经板块

Company buyouts

公司收购

Frenemies

亦敌亦友

The uneasy partnership¹ between private equity² and SPACS

私人股本和SPACS之间不稳定的合作关系

The spectacle of the SPAC, or "special-purpose acquisition company", has preoccupied³ bankers on Wall Street over the past year.

SPAC(或“特殊目的收购公司”)的壮观景象在过去一年里让华尔街的银行家们忧心忡忡。

This is in part because the vehicles, which list a shell company on stockmarkets and raise a pot of capital before hunting for a private company to merge⁴ with, are often touted⁵ by their backers as an alternative to an initial public offering (IPO).

部分原因是这些投资工具经常被其支持者吹捧为首次公开募股(IPO)之外的另一种选择。这些投资工具将空壳公司上市，并在寻找私人公司合并之前筹集大量资金。

Big banks make meaty fees from their IPO businesses. For some, the fact that SPACS have muscled in is an unwelcome development.

大银行从IPO业务中赚取丰厚的佣金。对一些人来说，SPACS强行介入是一种不受欢迎的发展。

As voracious⁶ buyers of private firms, though, SPACS are attracting as much attention among the private-equity (PE) barons⁷ on New York's Park Avenue as on Wall Street.

尽管如此，作为对私人公司如痴如渴的买家，SPACS在纽约公园大道和华尔街的私募股本(PE)巨头中吸引了同样多的关注。

Since the start of 2020 SPACS have gobbled up almost $200bn in capital. The way they are constructed makes them prone⁸ to overpaying for firms.

自2020年初以来，SPACS已经吸纳了近2000亿美元的资本。它们的构造方式使得它们倾向于为公司支付过高的价格。

Creators see no compensation unless they strike a deal with a mergertarget, which must often be done within two years.

创造者看不到任何补偿，除非他们与并购目标达成协议，而这通常必须在两年内完成。

The founders⁹' payoff is usually 20% of the shares the SPAC helps issue in the newly public firm, which are given to them for a nominal¹⁰ fee.

创始人的回报通常是SPAC帮助新上市公司发行股份的20%，这些股份以象征性的费用给予他们。

This means that even if the shares plunge¹¹ afterthe shell company merges¹² with its target, the founders are still well compensated¹³.

这意味着，即使空壳公司与其目标公司合并后股价暴跌，创始人仍能获得丰厚的报酬。

Their incentive¹⁴ is thus to do any deal they can, at lofty prices if necessary.

因此，他们的动机是尽其所能达成交易，如果必要的话，以高昂的价格成交。

This tendency to overpay is both a blessing¹⁵ and a curse for PE.

这种支付过高的倾向对PE来说是福也是祸。

If a PE firm is looking to offload one of its portfolio¹⁶ companies, then finding a SPAC to buy it is an attractive prospect¹⁷.

如果一家私人股本公司希望将其投资组合中的某家公司的资产剥离，那么找到SPAC来收购是一个很有吸引力的前景。

In March Blackstone and CVC Capital Partners, two PE shops, tripled their money when they sold Paysafe, a payments platform, through a SPAC mergerled by Bill Foley, an insurance executive.

今年3月，两家私募股权投资公司黑石集团和CVC资本合伙公司通过一家由保险公司高管比尔·弗利合并的SPAC公司出售了支付平台Paysafe，使其收益翻了三倍。

After Blackstone achieved record first-quarter earnings¹⁸ of $1.75bn Jon Gray, its president, noted¹⁹ on an earnings call that SPACS had emerged as a new exit option.

在黑石实现创纪录的17.5亿美元首季度盈利后，该公司总裁乔恩·格雷在一次业绩电话会议上指出SPACS已成为新的退出选择。

But PE firms also need to purchase private companies fortheir new funds, ideally at low valuations if they are to make the juicy returns theirinvestors have come to expect.

但如果想获得投资者期望的丰厚回报，私人股本公司也需要为其新基金收购私人公司，且最好以较低的估值收购。

Little is known publicly about the deals that PE firms miss out on, but reports abound²¹ of SPACS bidding 20-50% more for companies than the most optimistic valuations by analysts²² in PE shops.

公众对私募股权公司错过的交易知之甚少，但有大量报道称SPACS对公司的出价比私募股权投资公司分析师最乐观的估值高出20-50%。

A further complication in the relationship between blank-cheque vehicles and PE is that some PE giants are setting up SPACS themselves.

空白支票公司和私募股权公司之间的关系更加复杂的是，一些私募股权巨头正在自己建立SPACS。

Apollo, for instance, has launched five in recent years.

例如，阿波罗近年来已经发起了5次。

That could pose a dilemma²³: should a target firm be bought through the private arm, to the benefit of the investors²⁰ in the PE fund, or by the public arm, to the benefit of the investors in the SPAC?

这可能会造成一个困境：目标公司是应该通过私人部门(为PE基金投资者的利益)收购，还是通过公共部门(为SPAC投资者的利益)收购？

The SPAC frenzy²⁴ might yield juicy returns for PE investors who bought into a fund a decade ago. But tricky²⁵ choices loom²⁶.

SPAC的狂热可能会给十年前买入一只基金的私人股本投资者带来丰厚的回报。但棘手的选择近在眼前。

1 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

2 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

3 preoccupied   

adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式)

参考例句：

• He was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to notice anything wrong. 他只顾想着心事，没注意到有什么不对。
• The question of going to the Mount Tai preoccupied his mind. 去游泰山的问题盘踞在他心头。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 merge   

v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体

参考例句：

• I can merge my two small businesses into a large one.我可以将我的两家小商店合并为一家大商行。
• The directors have decided to merge the two small firms together.董事们已决定把这两家小商号归并起来。

5 touted   

v.兜售( tout的过去式和过去分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• She's being touted as the next leader of the party. 她被吹捧为该党的下一任领导人。
• People said that he touted for his mother and sister. 据说，他给母亲和姐姐拉生意。 来自辞典例句

6 voracious   

adj.狼吞虎咽的，贪婪的

参考例句：

• She's a voracious reader of all kinds of love stories.什么样的爱情故事她都百看不厌。
• Joseph Smith was a voracious book collector.约瑟夫·史密斯是个如饥似渴的藏书家。

7 barons   

男爵( baron的名词复数 )； 巨头； 大王； 大亨

参考例句：

• The barons of Normandy had refused to countenance the enterprise officially. 诺曼底的贵族们拒绝正式赞助这桩买卖。
• The barons took the oath which Stephen Langton prescribed. 男爵们照斯蒂芬？兰顿的指导宣了誓。

8 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

9 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

10 nominal   

adj.名义上的；(金额、租金)微不足道的

参考例句：

• The king was only the nominal head of the state. 国王只是这个国家名义上的元首。
• The charge of the box lunch was nominal.午餐盒饭收费很少。

11 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

12 merges   

（使）混合( merge的第三人称单数 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中

参考例句：

• The 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Mo Yan"who with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary". 2012年诺贝尔文学奖得主为莫言，他“很好地将魔幻现实与民间故事、历史与当代结合在一起”。
• A device that collates, merges, or matches sets of punched cards or other documents. 一种整理、合并或比较一组穿孔卡片或其它文档的设备。

13 compensated   

补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款）

参考例句：

• The marvelous acting compensated for the play's weak script. 本剧的精彩表演弥补了剧本的不足。
• I compensated his loss with money. 我赔偿他经济损失。

14 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

15 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

16 portfolio   

n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位

参考例句：

• He remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio.他因为她带着一个大公文包而记住了她。
• He resigned his portfolio.他辞去了大臣职务。

17 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

18 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

19 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

20 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

21 abound   

vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于

参考例句：

• Oranges abound here all the year round.这里一年到头都有很多橙子。
• But problems abound in the management of State-owned companies.但是在国有企业的管理中仍然存在不少问题。

22 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

23 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

24 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。

25 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

26 loom   

n.织布机，织机；v.隐现，(危险、忧虑等)迫近

参考例句：

• The old woman was weaving on her loom.那位老太太正在织布机上织布。
• The shuttle flies back and forth on the loom.织布机上梭子来回飞动。