煙草在線據(jù)iNVEZZ.com報(bào)道編譯　　《時(shí)報(bào)》5月12日?qǐng)?bào)道稱(chēng)，英國(guó)最大的煙草公司——英美煙草公司聘請(qǐng)銀行家對(duì)美國(guó)數(shù)十億英鎊的并購(gòu)機(jī)會(huì)提供建議，包括與雷諾美國(guó)和羅瑞拉德煙草公司達(dá)成交易的可能性。

　　該報(bào)引用了未具名的“City sources”的話(huà)稱(chēng)，該煙草巨頭已邀請(qǐng)德意志銀行與它的長(zhǎng)期財(cái)務(wù)顧問(wèn)瑞士聯(lián)合銀行（UBS），共同對(duì)它應(yīng)該如何在美國(guó)尋找交易對(duì)象以及如何對(duì)交易進(jìn)行融資做研究。消息人士表示，自去年年底以來(lái)，英美煙草公司一直在美國(guó)尋找潛在的并購(gòu)機(jī)會(huì)。

　　在5月12日的交易中，截至英國(guó)夏令時(shí)14時(shí)21分，英美煙草的股價(jià)上漲了1.3%，達(dá)到3461.50便士。自今年年初以來(lái)，該公司的股價(jià)已大約上漲了7%。

　　在該英國(guó)公司與美國(guó)第二大煙草公司雷諾美國(guó)之間的合約到期的幾個(gè)月前，有關(guān)英美煙草有意在美國(guó)尋求交易的猜測(cè)就出現(xiàn)了。10年前，在簽訂了不會(huì)惡意收購(gòu)的協(xié)議之后，英美煙草收購(gòu)了它的美國(guó)同行42%的股份。然而，該協(xié)議將在今年7月到期，似乎促使這家英國(guó)公司開(kāi)始研究在大西洋地區(qū)的收購(gòu)機(jī)會(huì)。

　　對(duì)于英美煙草來(lái)說(shuō)，其中的一個(gè)選擇就是收購(gòu)雷諾公司的剩余股份。另一個(gè)選擇是允許雷諾收購(gòu)新港薄荷卷煙制造商——羅瑞拉德公司。第二個(gè)選擇也會(huì)使英美煙草收購(gòu)羅瑞拉德公司的部分品牌。

　　不過(guò)，這種三方交易會(huì)較為復(fù)雜，因?yàn)橛⒚罒煵菘赡軙?huì)因?yàn)楦?jìng)爭(zhēng)壁壘被迫把品牌出售給競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手。City的普遍看法是，收購(gòu)雷諾公司，然后對(duì)羅瑞拉德提出潛在的收購(gòu)計(jì)劃，對(duì)這家英國(guó)煙草巨頭來(lái)說(shuō)是一個(gè)更好的選擇。

　　英美煙草或通過(guò)收購(gòu)削弱增長(zhǎng)緩慢的影響

　　由于雷諾和羅瑞拉德的市場(chǎng)價(jià)值分別為310億美元和215億美元，所以不管英美煙草做出哪種選擇，都可能是該公司未來(lái)幾年中最大的一筆煙草交易。一些分析人士認(rèn)為，英美煙草公司可能計(jì)劃通過(guò)大手筆的收購(gòu)來(lái)削弱未來(lái)幾年增長(zhǎng)緩慢的影響。

　　《時(shí)報(bào)》援引花旗銀行的亞當(dāng)·斯皮爾曼的觀點(diǎn)稱(chēng)：“英美煙草公司的管理層可能會(huì)積極探索增長(zhǎng)機(jī)遇，因?yàn)槲覀冾A(yù)測(cè)該公司的每股收益在2014年將因外匯而下降大約3%……不久后，英美煙草很可能會(huì)收購(gòu)雷諾公司的剩余股份?！?/p>

　　一些分析人士認(rèn)為，英美煙草也正在考慮對(duì)美國(guó)的第三家公司進(jìn)行收購(gòu)。

評(píng)論：

　　英美煙草尋求在美國(guó)的收購(gòu)機(jī)會(huì)，從當(dāng)前來(lái)看，其目的可能是通過(guò)大手筆的收購(gòu)來(lái)削弱未來(lái)幾年增長(zhǎng)緩慢的影響。不過(guò)，從英美煙草100多年的發(fā)展歷史來(lái)看，其發(fā)展的歷史，就是其兼并收購(gòu)擴(kuò)張的歷史，而且英美煙草一直有成為世界煙草界老大的夢(mèng)想，收購(gòu)兼并是最有力的擴(kuò)張工具。美國(guó)是一個(gè)成熟的煙草市場(chǎng)，盡管近幾年來(lái)卷煙的銷(xiāo)量在逐步下滑，但是從市場(chǎng)老大奧馳亞的業(yè)績(jī)來(lái)看，其業(yè)績(jī)?cè)谥鸩脚噬?#xff0c;從而可以看出美國(guó)仍是一個(gè)有利可圖的煙草市場(chǎng)。從這一點(diǎn)來(lái)說(shuō)，英美煙草想更大程度地涉足美國(guó)市場(chǎng)，也在情理之中。此外，最近兩年來(lái)美國(guó)的煙草訴訟熱潮有消退的跡象，在這個(gè)時(shí)候考慮進(jìn)入，訴訟風(fēng)險(xiǎn)也小一些。最后，無(wú)論英美煙草是收購(gòu)了雷諾美國(guó)的其余股份，還是收購(gòu)了羅瑞拉德，毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)，英美煙草的實(shí)力將再次擴(kuò)張，與世界巨頭菲莫國(guó)際的差距也就進(jìn)一步縮小了。

BAT Considers Tobacco Mega-deal in the US

　　The Times today reported that British American Tobacco Plc, the UK's largest tobacco company, has hired bankers to advise on multibillion-pound acquisition opportunities in America, including possible deals with Reynolds American and Lorillard Tobacco Company.

　　The paper cited unnamed 'City sources', according to whom, the tobacco giant has asked Deutsche Bank to work alongside its long-standing financial adviser UBS on how it should pursue and finance deals in the US. The sources said that British American Tobacco (BAT) had been looking at options for potential US acquisitions since late last year.

　　In today's trading, BAT shares rose 1.3 percent to 3,461.50p as of 14:21 BST. The company's stock has advanced some seven percent since the start of the year.

　　Speculation about BAT's interest in US deals arises just months before the end of a contract between the British firm and America's second-largest tobacco company, Reynolds American. BAT acquired a 42-percent stake in its US peer a decade ago, signing an agreement not to make a hostile offer. The agreement, however, ends this July, which, it seems, has prompted the British firm into studying its acquisition options across the Atlantic.

　　One such option for BAT is to make an offer for the rest of Reynolds. Another one is to green light an acquisition by Reynolds of Lorillard, the maker of Newport menthol cigarettes. The second option also involves BAT's purchase of some of Lorillard's brands.

　　The three-way transaction, however, is more complicated, as BAT could be forced to sell brands to rivals due to competition barriers. The prevalent view in the City is that buying Reynolds and then launching a potential takeover bid of Lorillard is a better option for the UK tobacco giant.

　　Slowing growth

　　Regardless of which option, BAT chooses to pursue, it would likely be the firm's biggest tobacco deal in years, given Reynolds' and Lorillard's market values of $31 billion and $21.5 billion, respectively. Some analysts have suggested that the company may be planning to use a huge acquisition to offset slowing growth over the next few years.

　　The Times quoted Citigroup's Adam Spielman as observing: "BAT management may explore growth options creatively, given we forecast earnings per share will fall about 3 per cent in 2014 due to foreign exchange … it is quite likely that BAT does buy the rest of Reynolds fairly soon."

　　According to some analysts, BAT had also been looking at a third US-based company. Enditem