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China Global M&A Push, 2005 ~ Nowadays

Besides buying Aussie assets, China is also buying our neighbor's assets.

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| Tue Sep 20, 2016 | 6:47am EDT
China's Bright Food approved to buy stake in NZ's largest meat processor


New Zealand approved on Tuesday the sale of a 50 percent stake in the country's largest meat processor Silver Fern Farms to a unit of China's Bright Food Group [SHMNGA.UL], enhancing the South Island-based company's access into the Chinese market.

The approval of the NZ$261 million ($191 million) deal is an encouraging outcome for Chinese investors, following a high-profile rejection and complaints over the slow approval process.

The Dunedin-based company had voted in October to allow Shanghai Maling Aquarius Co (600073.SS), a unit of Chinese state-owned enterprise Bright Food Group, to take a half-share in the firm and applied for approval from foreign investment regulators the same month.

Minister for Land Information, Louise Upston, who approved the deal after it received the go-ahead from the Overseas Investment Office (OIO), said in a statement it would "put the company in a better financial position and allow it to increase its exports".

Silver Fern Farms Chairman Rob Hewitt told Reuters the capital invested would allow the company to develop its brand and strategy.

The company is particularly focused on the China market, their biggest by volume, and can take advantage of Bright Foods' supply chains and 8,000 Chinese supermarkets.

"It's the fastest growing protein market in the world so it's going to bring significant benefit," Hewitt said of Bright Foods' involvement.

Shanghai Maling President Wei Ping Shen said in a statement the regulatory approval "clears the way for us to move ahead with the partnership".

Chinese companies have in recent years been attracted to New Zealand's agricultural sector as the Asian giant seeks sources of high-quality protein to feed its fast-growing middle class. However, some Chinese investors have hit roadblocks from political opposition to foreign ownership of domestic assets.

In September 2015 the New Zealand government blocked the NZ$88 million purchase of a local farm by China's Shanghai Pengxin, despite the OIO approving the sale. The government said at the time they were not satisfied there would be "substantial benefit" to New Zealand.

Investors have also complained the OIO process was slow and uncertain, a problem the government acknowledged in May when it announced plans to speed up approvals by employing more staff.

Neighboring Australia has also grappled with concerns around foreign ownership of farmland and rural businesses.

Early this year, the government rejected a bid by a China-led consortium to buy Australia's S. Kidman & Co, the country's largest agricultural land owner, concluding the offer for Kidman and its agricultural land, about the same size as Ireland, was not in the national interest.


(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
 
More agricultural products to China pls!
NZ, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, etc.
We don't have sufficient arable land for that.....
 
Tuesday 4 October 2016 8:01pm

China M&A frenzy around the world set to continue according to Freshfields

Tracey Boles

Tracey Boles is news editor at City A.M.

china-lifestyle-lunar-new-year-469438853-57f3fc9deb480.jpg

China celebrates (Source: Getty)

CHINA'S vast appetite for overseas acquisitions is laid bare in new M&A monitor by law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

The law firm found that China leads outbound M&A with 173 signed deals valued at $128.7bn, including a number of massive acquisitions in the first half of 2016 such as ChemChina’s $43bn bid for Swiss agrichemicals maker Syngenta and Haier’s $5.4bn offer for GE Appliances.

Although Europe has been the favoured destination for Chinese buyers with 101 deals worth $76.5bn, the recently announced acquisition of US-based aluminium rolled products producer Aleris Corporation, by Zhongwang USA, shows that Chinese buyers are also looking to North American targets.

The $2.3bn acquisition of Aleris is the highest price ever paid by a Chinese buyer for an overseas metals producer to date.

Freshfields said yesterday: “We expect China’s appetite for overseas acquisitions to continue, particularly in the industrials and chemicals, technology, energy and mining sectors.”

It also noted the that UK is open for business following the referendum, pointing to a “number of significant deals” in the last quarter that affect UK businesses.

The first, SoftBank’s acquisition of ARM Holdings, represented a significant sale of the Cambridge-based business to a Japanese acquirer. This was followed up with the recent acquisition by UK-based Micro Focus of HP Enterprise’s software division.

“Following takeover attempts by foreign businesses, the UK’s Brexit vote has highlighted the public interest angle of such deals,” Freshfields said.​

“Whilst Theresa May suggested that the UK should be capable of stepping in to defend a sector where needed, we expect that we will not see a step change in approach and consequently the UK is still open to overseas investment. This is despite the UK Government publishing a briefing paper in September raising the prospect of a UK public interest test on foreign takeovers."

“Foreign acquirers of substantial UK assets may well have to follow the SoftBank lead and make commitments to jobs and growth in the UK. The regime to police such commitments has been in place for some time (post the Cadbury–Kraft deal) but the SoftBank–ARM transaction was the first that saw these commitments made in a way that can be directly enforced by the UK Takeover Panel.”


http://www.cityam.com/250728/china-ma-frenzy-around-world-set-continue-according
 
Japan’s Fujitsu eyeing PC merger with China’s Lenovo
AFP/Bloomberg
17:21 October 6, 2016

Tokyo: Shares in Japanese IT giant Fujitsu soared Thursday on news it is considering merging its struggling personal computer division with China’s Lenovo, the world’s biggest PC maker.

A deal would mark the latest move by a Japanese firm to hive off struggling divisions to repair their finances, with Toshiba and Sony among a string of companies that have sold off assets in recent years.

Japanese personal computer makers have been scaling back their businesses as consumers move to mobile devices to check email or use the web.

The leading Nikkei business daily said the merger was among a number of options Fujitsu was considering for the money-losing unit. It did not give financial details.

In response, the conglomerate confirmed it is looking at “various possibilities including the reported move” but did not elaborate.

The firm’s Tokyo-listed stock surged nearly six per cent to close at 568.7 yen Thursday.

Fujitsu has been struggling to find a partner for its PC unit. It had been in talks with Toshiba and Vaio to merge their once high-flying personal computer businesses, but the talks have yet to result in a deal.

The reports on Thursday from the Nikkei and other Japanese media said Fujitsu and Lenovo were aiming to reach a deal by the end of this month as Fujitsu looks to focus more on its IT services business.

Possible options include transferring its PC design, development and manufacturing operations to a Lenovo-led joint venture, the Nikkei said.

Joint venture

Another option could see Lenovo taking a majority stake in Fujitsu’s PC subsidiary, it said, adding that either move could see about 2,000 Fujitsu employees move over to the Chinese company.

Lenovo already has a PC joint venture with Japan’s NEC.

Hiroshi Sakai, a chief analyst at SMBC Friend Research Centre, warned Fujitsu may be running out of time to find a buyer for its PC unit in a shrinking market.

Still, he added that its focus on corporate clients and its facilities in Japan could be attractive for a potential suitor.

“Fujitsu’s PC division still has strong footing and holds reasonable domestic share so it’s attractive for a future business partner,” he said.

Competition

Once mighty Japanese firms have been selling off assets in recent years as they struggle to reorganise in the face of stiff competition from lower-cost rivals overseas, including in China and South Korea.

Earlier this year, Sharp agreed to a buyout that would see it taken over by Taiwan’s Hon Hai, better known as Foxconn, after the Japanese industrial mainstay was pummelled by huge losses and mounting debts.

China’s Midea Group has bought a little more than 80 per cent of loss-making Toshiba’s home appliances arm, while Sony has unloaded a string of assets to claw back to profitability, including its laptop unit and a Manhattan office building.
http://gulfnews.com/business/compan...yeing-pc-merger-with-china-s-lenovo-1.1908235
 
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Chinese firm unveils world's largest automotive glass facility
2016-10-08 15:59:52 Xinhua Web Editor: Zhang Xu

84bf799d868d4df9aa65f159c3960a4f.jpg

Fuyao Glass America celebrated the grand opening of its newest U.S. facility in Moraine,
Ohio Friday, marking the largest glass fabrication plant in the world. [Photo: Weibo]

Fuyao Glass America celebrated the grand opening of its newest U.S. facility in Moraine, Ohio Friday, marking the largest glass fabrication plant in the world.

Upon completion, the 116-acre facility, which is housed in a General Motors former assembly plant, will be the world' s largest glass fabrication plant with the capacity to produce 4.5 million automotive car sets and 4 million automotive replacement glass windshields each year. Currently employing about 2,000 local workers, Fuyao expects this number to grow to 2,300 - 2,500 by the end of 2017 to meet growing customer demand.

"Today's grand opening in Moraine is the culmination of a monumental undertaking by Fuyao and our partners," said Chairman Cho Tak Wong of Fuyao Glass Industry Group. "We are proud of our work in Ohio, in the heart of the U.S auto corridor, and are highly committed to supporting the growth of the North American automotive market."

"Now we have 2000 families that are seeing their lives dramatically improved because of the commitment of the company and vision of my friend chairman Cho," said John Kasich, Governor of Ohio.

The new Moraine facility represents 600 million U.S. dollars in total investment by Fuyao, the largest Chinese investment in Ohio history. Bringing auto glass production back to the U.S., Fuyao aims to regenerate both the local Ohio community, with 25 million dollars to 30 million dollars funneled into the economy each month, and the broader automotive industry.

"Fuyao's goal is to provide the highest quality product and outstanding service to our customers," said John Gauthier, President of Fuyao Glass America. "Building on the heritage of this facility, the support of our community and state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities, customers are already seeing the benefits from shorter development and shipping lead times."

"We are thrilled to receive strong support today from the wider Fuyao community and look forward to building on this foundation of innovation and success," he added.

Fuyao Glass America is part of Fuyao Industry Group Co. Ltd., a leading international manufacturer of automotive and industrial glass located in China, with U.S. manufacturing plants in Dayton, OH, Mt. Zion, IL, and Lake Orion, MI. Its main customers include GM, Ford, Honda, Isuzu, Toyota, Mazda, Audi, Volkswagen, Citroen, and Mercedes, to name a few.
 
Fuyao Group was founded in 1987, has built their auto glass manufacturing production to being the number one manufacturer in the world. With 300+ patents, the company has cemented itself as a leader for decades to come.

I suppose the US govt (CFIUS) welcomes greenfield FDI of such kind, they should also drop paranoia about other forms of Chinese FDI like M&A, infrastructure, public utilities. China can't, and shouldn't, over-invest her trade surpluses on T-bills.
 
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China's M&A activity over the past four years. Notice the deep structural change in terms of increased diversification. Graph includes data from all of China (Mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau)
 
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China's HNA to buy 25 percent stake of Hilton
(Xinhua) 08:39, October 25, 2016

NEW YORK, Oct. 24 -- China's HNA Group announced Monday that it will acquire about 25 percent stake in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. from Blackstone Group LP for 6.5 billion U.S. dollars.

HNA Group, a Chinese conglomerate headquartered in Haikou in south China's Hainan province, will buy the stake for 26.25 U.S. dollars per share in cash, a 15 percent premium to Hilton's closing price of 22.91 U.S. dollars on Friday. The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017, will reduce Blackstone's interest in Hilton to roughly 21 percent.

The move comes when Hilton's planned spin-offs of Park Hotels & Resorts and Hilton Grand Vacations are under way. According to the terms, HNA will own approximately 25 percent of all three companies when the spin-offs are completed at the end of this year.

The agreement also allows HNA to appoint two directors to Hilton's Board of Directors, bringing the total to ten members.

"We believe this mutually beneficial relationship will open new opportunities for our brands and guests around the world, particularly in light of HNA's strong position in the fast-growing Chinese travel and tourism market, the largest outbound travel and tourism market in the world," said Christopher J. Nassetta, president and CEO of Hilton, in a statement on Monday.

Hilton's shares gained 0.09 percent at 22.94 U.S. dollars after Monday' s closing bell, while Blackstone inched up 0.72 percent at 24.79 U.S. dollars.
 
China is becoming increasingly vigorous in international mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and this year has become the world's largest acquirer.

Under the "going out" strategy, China's outbound mergers and acquisitions has continued to heat up.

The first 9 months of 2016 saw Chinese companies complete 521 overseas M&A deals worth 67.4 billion USD, which exceeded last year's annual transaction amount.

In the same time period, China's outward direct investment in the non-financial sector had hit 134.2 billion USD, an increase of 12.8 billion USD compared to last year's total.

China's big outward purchases this year have included HNA's 6.3 billion USD acquisition of Ingram Micro and Haier's 5.4 billion USD bid for General Electric's appliances unit.

German companies have been very popular among Chinese acquirers.

Around 200 German companies have been acquired by Chinese enterprises so far this year, according to the German Federal M&A Association.

Chinese public companies are the main acquirers in outward M&A deals with Germany.

The German "entrepreneur" magazine editor Stephen Genzna said Chinese companies were previously interested in Germany's automobile and mechanical manufacturing industries, but now they are also keen on electronics and injection molding industries.

Daily Economic news reported that the reason Germany became the focus of China's overseas acquisition was because economic recovery in Germany had slowed down since 2011.

Many German companies had to go bankrupt.Chinese public companies have traveled to Germany to seek potential M&A targets in groups since 2012, and their purchasing power has been overwhelming.

German companies have also increasingly started to purchase Chinese companies, and 164 Chinese companies were bought out by German companies in 2016.

Marcus Kapust, General Manager of German's Strategic Communications of VPC Group, said there had been concerns from Germans that Chinese rich acquirers might buy up all the German companies, but these concerns are unnecessary.

China's Midea Group Co's started to make an effort to buy out German industrial robot maker Kuka in May this year. This caused a furious debate over Chinese outbound M&As in Europe, and some German politicians have appealed for tougher restrictions.

The deal passed through the anti-trust scrutiny of the European Union and the outcries have died down gradually.
 
China's HNA to buy 25 percent stake of Hilton
(Xinhua) 08:39, October 25, 2016

NEW YORK, Oct. 24 -- China's HNA Group announced Monday that it will acquire about 25 percent stake in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. from Blackstone Group LP for 6.5 billion U.S. dollars.

HNA Group, a Chinese conglomerate headquartered in Haikou in south China's Hainan province, will buy the stake for 26.25 U.S. dollars per share in cash, a 15 percent premium to Hilton's closing price of 22.91 U.S. dollars on Friday. The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017, will reduce Blackstone's interest in Hilton to roughly 21 percent.

The move comes when Hilton's planned spin-offs of Park Hotels & Resorts and Hilton Grand Vacations are under way. According to the terms, HNA will own approximately 25 percent of all three companies when the spin-offs are completed at the end of this year.

The agreement also allows HNA to appoint two directors to Hilton's Board of Directors, bringing the total to ten members.

"We believe this mutually beneficial relationship will open new opportunities for our brands and guests around the world, particularly in light of HNA's strong position in the fast-growing Chinese travel and tourism market, the largest outbound travel and tourism market in the world," said Christopher J. Nassetta, president and CEO of Hilton, in a statement on Monday.

Hilton's shares gained 0.09 percent at 22.94 U.S. dollars after Monday' s closing bell, while Blackstone inched up 0.72 percent at 24.79 U.S. dollars.
 
China's HNA to buy 25 percent stake of Hilton
(Xinhua) 08:39, October 25, 2016

NEW YORK, Oct. 24 -- China's HNA Group announced Monday that it will acquire about 25 percent stake in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. from Blackstone Group LP for 6.5 billion U.S. dollars.

HNA Group, a Chinese conglomerate headquartered in Haikou in south China's Hainan province, will buy the stake for 26.25 U.S. dollars per share in cash, a 15 percent premium to Hilton's closing price of 22.91 U.S. dollars on Friday. The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017, will reduce Blackstone's interest in Hilton to roughly 21 percent.

The move comes when Hilton's planned spin-offs of Park Hotels & Resorts and Hilton Grand Vacations are under way. According to the terms, HNA will own approximately 25 percent of all three companies when the spin-offs are completed at the end of this year.

The agreement also allows HNA to appoint two directors to Hilton's Board of Directors, bringing the total to ten members.

"We believe this mutually beneficial relationship will open new opportunities for our brands and guests around the world, particularly in light of HNA's strong position in the fast-growing Chinese travel and tourism market, the largest outbound travel and tourism market in the world," said Christopher J. Nassetta, president and CEO of Hilton, in a statement on Monday.

Hilton's shares gained 0.09 percent at 22.94 U.S. dollars after Monday' s closing bell, while Blackstone inched up 0.72 percent at 24.79 U.S. dollars.
HNA is owned by Hainan provincial government.
 
Aussie gov't approves Chinese takeover of pharmaceutical company Vitaco
2016-10-24 09:48 | Xinhua | Editor: Mo Hong'e

Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) on Monday approved a Chinese takeover of pharmaceutical giant Vitaco in a deal set to be worth more than 235 million U.S dollars.

Following the announcement of the planned sale in August this year, the Chinese bid lodged by Shanghai Pharma and Primavera Capital was approved by the government on Monday following approval from Chinese regulators earlier this year.

The last piece of the puzzle for the Chinese partnership is approval from Vitaco's shareholders who are due to vote on the takeover before the end of the year.

It's expected the deal, which will result in Shanghai Pharma and Primavera Capital paying 2.25 Australian dollars (1.71 U.S dollars) per share, will be approved by the shareholders. The current share price of the company is 2.07 U.S dollars (1.57 U.S dollars).

Vitaco is best known for the production of its Nutra-Life vitamin brand, as well as its Aussie Bodies sports nutrition range.

The FIRB approval comes following tough times for Chinese investment in Australia. The federal Turnbull government, which has previously stated that Australia was "open for business", had blocked Chinese-backed bids for Australia's largest pastoral landholding, S. Kidman & Co., as well as the nation's largest electricity distributor, Ausgrid.

S. Kidman & Co. bid was blocked by Treasurer Scott Morrison on "national interest grounds", while the Ausgrid bid was rejected due to national security concerns.
 
China's HNA to buy 25 percent stake of Hilton
(Xinhua) 08:39, October 25, 2016

NEW YORK, Oct. 24 -- China's HNA Group announced Monday that it will acquire about 25 percent stake in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. from Blackstone Group LP for 6.5 billion U.S. dollars.

HNA Group, a Chinese conglomerate headquartered in Haikou in south China's Hainan province, will buy the stake for 26.25 U.S. dollars per share in cash, a 15 percent premium to Hilton's closing price of 22.91 U.S. dollars on Friday. The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017, will reduce Blackstone's interest in Hilton to roughly 21 percent.

The move comes when Hilton's planned spin-offs of Park Hotels & Resorts and Hilton Grand Vacations are under way. According to the terms, HNA will own approximately 25 percent of all three companies when the spin-offs are completed at the end of this year.

The agreement also allows HNA to appoint two directors to Hilton's Board of Directors, bringing the total to ten members.

"We believe this mutually beneficial relationship will open new opportunities for our brands and guests around the world, particularly in light of HNA's strong position in the fast-growing Chinese travel and tourism market, the largest outbound travel and tourism market in the world," said Christopher J. Nassetta, president and CEO of Hilton, in a statement on Monday.

Hilton's shares gained 0.09 percent at 22.94 U.S. dollars after Monday' s closing bell, while Blackstone inched up 0.72 percent at 24.79 U.S. dollars.


Some of the Biggest Investments From China in US Hotels
By the associated press Oct 24, 2016, 1:58 PM ET

HNA Group becomes the latest company from China to make a major investment in U.S. hotels. The stability of the U.S. real estate market and hotel owners ready to sell in a hot market has led to a string of eye-popping price tags.

Here are some notable hotel sales, and one attempted sale, involving Chinese companies recently:

October 2016
Property: Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.
Price: $6.5 billion for a 25 percent stake
Buyer: HNA Group, a conglomerate

October 2016
Property: Assorted hotels
Price $2 billion
Buyer: China Life Insurance Co.

February 2015
Property: Waldorf Astoria in New York
Price: $1.95 billion
Buyer: Anbang Insurance Group

February 2015
Property: Baccarat Hotel in Manhattan.
Price: More than $200 million
Buyer: Sunshine Insurance Group Co.

March 2016
Property: Starwood Hotels
Price: $15 billion. This deal fell through, with Marriott the eventual buyer for $14.4 billion.
Buyer: Anbang Insurance Group​

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/biggest-investments-china-us-hotels-43021397
 
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