经济学人449:啤酒企业的兼并

 　　Brewery² mergers⁴

　　啤酒企业的兼并

　　Foamy⁵ war

　　弥漫着泡沫的战争

　　SABMiller may be swallowed up by its main rival, AB InBev

　　南非米勒也许会被其主要竞争对手—百威英博吞并

　　THE world's biggest brewer¹, AB InBev, is also the most frugal⁶. There are no company cars for senior executives. Carlos Brito, the boss, flies economy class. That is one reason why, with 18 of global beer sales, ABI has a third of the profits.

　　英博，全球最大的啤酒制造商，同时也是最节俭的一个。英博旗下的高管都没有公司配车。老板Carlos Brito平时出行都乘坐经济舱。之所以英博的啤酒销售额占全球的18，利润额却高达全球的三分之一，这就是原因之一。

　　啤酒企业兼并.jpg

　　This will matter in the wary⁷ manoeuvres now taking place among the giants of global brewing⁸. On September 14th Heineken, the number three by volume, said it had rejected a takeover proposal from SABMiller, the number two. SAB seems to have been trying to defend itself against a possible takeover by ABI, which was said to be talking to bankers about raising 75 billion to buy its rival. That was little more than a rumour⁹, but industry-watchers suspect something big is indeed brewing, in brewing. And the chances are that ever-thirsty ABI, maker¹⁰ of Budweiser and StellaArtois, will swallow SAB.

　　对于正施行谨慎策略的全球啤酒酿造业巨头，这点至关重要。9月14日，销量排行第三的喜力啤酒称其已拒绝了来自销量第二的南非米勒的一个收购案。南非米勒似乎一直在抵御被英博收购的可能，据说英博目前正与银行家们讨论提高750亿欧元以收购其竞争对手。这只是个谣言，但是业内观察人士猜测酿造业内正酝酿着大事件。百威啤酒与时代啤酒的制造商—一如既往十分饥渴的英博公司将有机会吞并南非米勒。

　　The beer behemoth has few other ways to grow. In rich countries, consumption of beer has stopped rising. In America, ABI's Anheuser-Busch division is suffering growing competition from small makers¹¹ of “craft beer”. The number of American breweries¹² has jumped from fewer than 100 in 1983 to more than 3,000 today. ABI has its roots in Brazil, but there drinkers are suffering from a sluggish¹³ economy and post-World Cup blues¹⁴. This leaves ABI with two options, says Andrew Holland, an analyst¹⁵ at Societe Generale: give its cash back to shareholders¹⁶ or buy something.

　　啤酒业巨头已无其他发展之路。在富裕国家，啤酒的消费量已止步不前。在美国，英博的Anheuser-Busch部门正面临着来着生产“精酿啤酒”的小型制造商日益激烈的竞争。美国啤酒厂的数量已从1983年的不到100家跳跃式增长到如今的3000多家。英博起源于巴西，但那里的啤酒消费者正遭受着经济疲软与世界杯后的萧条。Societe Generale的分析师Andrew Holland说：这使得英博有两个选择，要么把现金还给股东，要么买些什么。

　　SAB is a tempting¹⁷ target. Though based inLondon, its origins are inSouth Africa; it has breweries and bottling plants in 15 African countries, where people still mainly guzzle¹⁸ moonshine. It has stakes in 21 others through an alliance with Castel, a French drinks company. Nearly 70 of SAB's sales are in emerging markets, many of which are still developing a taste for beer. Last year its sales by volume expanded by 3. ABI's, in contrast, dropped 2.

　　南非米勒是个令人心动的目标。尽管总部在伦敦，但其起源于南非；其在15个非洲国家都拥有酿酒厂和装瓶工厂，这些国家的人们仍主要狂饮着私酿的威士忌。南非米勒通过与法国饮料公司Castel联盟，在其它21家公司也拥有股份。南非米勒近70的销售额来自新兴市场，其中许多地区的人们还正在逐渐养成饮用啤酒的嗜好。去年其啤酒销售量增长了3。相反，英博的销售量缩减了2。

　　If ABI gets hold of SAB it will no doubt try to repeat tricks that have worked well since AmBev of Brazil merged¹⁹ with Interbrew of Belgium a decade ago and then pushed out its American boss: squeeze costs and use the new acquisition as a platform to spread its brands. That was the formula after the merged group bought Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser, in 2008. Grupo Modelo, a Mexican brewer which makesCoronaand has been part of ABI since last year, is now undergoing the same rigours.

　　十年前，巴西AmBev啤酒集团并购了比利时Interbrew啤酒集团，而后解聘了其美国老板：压缩成本，并使用新收购的公司作为其传播品牌的平台。如果英博吞并了南非米勒，其无疑会试着故伎重演。自从合并后的集团收购了百威的制造商安海斯- 布希公司之后，这就成了定式。Corona的制造商—墨西哥啤酒集团Modelo去年也成为了英博的一部分，其如今正处于相同的窘境之中。

　　SAB would be a more difficult undertaking²⁰. For one thing, notes Mr Holland, it is more tightly managed than “fat and lazy” Anheuser-Busch was, so there is less scope for cutting costs. SAB is bigger and more complex than anything else ABI has taken on. A knack²¹ for cost-cutting may not serve it as well in fast-growing markets. Another problem is that in some countries the two giants' combined businesses would be too big. In America Anheuser-Busch and SAB's joint²² venture with Molson Coors, another rival, would together have three-quarters of the beer market. InChinathe two would have more than a third. These are not insurmountable problems. InAmerica, for example, the stake in the joint venture could be sold to Molson Coors.

　　南非米勒将会是一个更加困难的任务。Holland先生指出，首先，比起过去臃肿懒惰的安海斯- 布希公司，南非米勒管理更为严格，因此压低收购价格的范围更小。比起英博收购的其他公司，南非米勒要更大更复杂。压低收购价格的技巧对于快速增长型市场也许并不适用。另一个问题在于在有些国家，这两家巨头合并后的企业将过于庞大。在美国，安海斯- 布希公司以及南非米勒与 另一个竞争对手—莫尔森库尔斯的合资企业共同占据着3/4的啤酒市场。在中国，这两者的市场占有率超过1/3。但这些并不是无法克服的难题。例如在美国，南非米勒所持有的合资公司的股份可能会被出售给莫尔森库尔斯公司。

　　Despite the obstacles, a merger³ of the leading two beer companies looks the likeliest of the potential huge deals. Heineken, which is controlled by the Heineken family even though it owns just 23 of the company's equity²³, has now given notice that it does not want to be bought. Carlsberg, the smallest of the big four, is controlled by a foundation. So the parsimonious²⁴ Mr Brito may well get his hands on SAB if he wants it enough. Teaching Africans to like Budweiser, however, may prove somewhat harder.

　　尽管困难重重，这两大啤酒公司的合并看起来是潜在的巨额交易中最有可能达成的。喜力集团，其掌控者为仅拥有23的公司股权的喜力家族，目前发布公告表示不愿意被收购。四大巨头中最小的嘉士伯啤酒公司由一家基金会掌控。所以如果极度节俭的Brito先生真心想收购南非米勒，他很可能会得到它。然而，引导非洲人民喜爱上百威啤酒，也许就更有些难度了。

1 brewer   

n. 啤酒制造者

参考例句：

• Brewer is a very interesting man. 布鲁尔是一个很有趣的人。
• I decided to quit my job to become a brewer. 我决定辞职，做一名酿酒人。

2 brewery   

n.啤酒厂

参考例句：

• The brewery had 25 heavy horses delivering beer in London.啤酒厂有25匹高头大马在伦敦城中运送啤酒。
• When business was good,the brewery employed 20 people.在生意好的时候，这家酿造厂曾经雇佣过20人。

3 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。

4 mergers   

n.（两个公司的）合并( merger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Mergers fall into three categories: horizontal, vertical, and conglomerate. 合并分为以下三种：横向合并，纵向合并和混合合并。 来自辞典例句
• Many recent mergers are concentrated within specific industries, particularly in retailing, airlines and communications. 现代许多合并企业集中进行某些特定业务，在零售业、民航和通讯业中更是如此。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

5 foamy   

adj.全是泡沫的，泡沫的，起泡沫的

参考例句：

• In Internet foamy 2001, so hard when, everybody stayed. 在互联网泡沫的2001年，那么艰难的时候，大家都留下来了。 来自互联网
• It's foamy milk that you add to the coffee. 将牛奶打出泡沫后加入咖啡中。 来自互联网

6 frugal   

adj.节俭的，节约的，少量的，微量的

参考例句：

• He was a VIP,but he had a frugal life.他是位要人，但生活俭朴。
• The old woman is frugal to the extreme.那老妇人节约到了极点。

7 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

8 brewing   

n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• It was obvious that a big storm was brewing up. 很显然，一场暴风雨正在酝酿中。
• She set about brewing some herb tea. 她动手泡一些药茶。

9 rumour   

n.谣言，谣传，传闻

参考例句：

• I should like to know who put that rumour about.我想知道是谁散布了那谣言。
• There has been a rumour mill on him for years.几年来，一直有谣言产生，对他进行中伤。

10 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

11 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 breweries   

酿造厂，啤酒厂( brewery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• In some cases, this is desirable, but most breweries prefer lighter-type beers. 在一些情况下，这是很理想的，但是大多数啤酒厂更倾向于生产酒度较低的啤酒。
• Currently, there are 58 breweries producing Snow Beeracross the country. 目前，全国共有58个雪花啤酒厂。

13 sluggish   

adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的

参考例句：

• This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
• Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。

14 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

15 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

16 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

17 tempting   

a.诱人的, 吸引人的

参考例句：

• It is tempting to idealize the past. 人都爱把过去的日子说得那么美好。
• It was a tempting offer. 这是个诱人的提议。

18 guzzle   

v.狂饮，暴食

参考例句：

• Melissa had guzzled gin and tonics like they were lemonade.梅利莎像喝柠檬汽水一样大口地喝着加奎宁水的杜松子酒。
• Pigs guzzle their food.猪总是狼吞虎咽地吃东西。

19 merged   

（使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中

参考例句：

• Turf wars are inevitable when two departments are merged. 两个部门合并时总免不了争争权限。
• The small shops were merged into a large market. 那些小商店合并成为一个大商场。

20 undertaking   

n.保证，许诺，事业

参考例句：

• He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
• He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小，不敢从事任何事业。

21 knack   

n.诀窍，做事情的灵巧的，便利的方法

参考例句：

• He has a knack of teaching arithmetic.他教算术有诀窍。
• Making omelettes isn't difficult,but there's a knack to it.做煎蛋饼并不难，但有窍门。

22 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

23 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。

24 parsimonious   

adj.吝啬的，质量低劣的

参考例句：

• Many scrollbars are quite parsimonious in doling out information to users.很多滚动条都很吝啬，给用户传递的信息太少。
• His parsimonious nature did not permit him to enjoy any luxuries.他那吝啬的本性不容许他享受任何奢侈品。