商业报道

　　Corporate governance

　　公司治理

　　Not King Coal

　　不是煤老大

　　The Rothschild-Bakrie marriage hits the rocks

　　罗斯柴尔德与巴克利联姻遭遇危机

　　IN AN early episode of Sergeant Bilko, a 1950s TV comedy, the eponymous hero rents an empty store.

　　上世纪五十年代的电视喜剧《毕尔克警长》中有这么一个情节，主人公毕尔克盘下了一个空店面，

　　His fellow soldiers, convinced that the army's smartest operator sees a business opportunity, beg to be made partners.

　　他的战友们坚信，这位军营中最聪明的指挥官看准了一个商机，苦苦要求与他一起干。

　　Not all do well out of the deal.

　　合作中遇到很多不快。

　　Nat Rothschild also has a name that inspires confidence among investors. The scion of a European banking dynasty,

　　罗斯柴尔德在投资者中同样享有较高的信任度，这位是欧洲银行王朝的后裔。

　　Mr Rothschild raised ￡707m to create his own empty store, a London-listed cash shell named Vallar.

　　斥资7.07亿英镑也创立了他自己的一个空店面，伦敦上市的一个现金空壳Vallar，

　　He then used the cash to buy stakes in two coal-mining ventures in Indonesia associated with the Bakrie group, a family-owned conglomerate.

　　之后他用这些资金购进印尼家族航母公司巴克利集团旗下两个矿业公司的股份。

　　Bumi PLC, the British-based company that emerged with Mr Rothschild as co-chairman, appealed to cautious punters who might otherwise have shied away from risky commodity bets in faraway places.

　　罗斯柴尔德先生也是英国布米能源的董事长，这家公司对那些不喜欢高风险的谨慎型投资者很有吸引力。

　　But the marriage of British finance and Indonesian business is on the rocks, and investors are sore.

　　但英国资金与印尼商机的联姻就要破裂，投资者苦不甘言。

　　On February 3rd the Bakrie family and Samin Tan, an Indonesian businessman, called on Bumi's shareholders to unseat Mr Rothschild from the board.

　　2月3日，巴克利家族和印尼商人萨门?汤呼吁Bumi公司的把罗斯柴尔德从董事长的位子下拉下来。

　　The move came after months of boardroom strife, which began when the Bakries sold half of their stake to Mr Tan, to pay off debts.

　　董事会内部冲突已持续数月。此前巴克利为偿还债务，将其所持股份的一半出售给汤先生，于是起了争端。

　　It worsened last November when Mr Rothschild called for a radical ‘cleaning up' of the balance-sheet and corporate culture of Bumi's Indonesian affiliate.

　　去年11月，罗斯柴尔德先生要求对Bumi印尼分公司的资产负债和企业文化进行彻底清洗，冲突愈演愈烈。

　　Bumi's share price is down by two-fifths from a year ago.

　　股价也比一年前跌了五分之二。

　　Few in Indonesia were surprised by the clash.

　　在印尼，几乎没有人会对这场冲突感到大惊小怪。

　　The Bakries have commercial and political clout, and are used to getting their own way.

　　巴克利在商业上和政治上具有很大影响力，一向我行我素。

　　In Britain the spat has added to investors' concerns that a premium London listing is too easily awarded to companies that have controlling shareholders,

　　在英国，冲突加剧了投资者的担心，他们认为，对于控股公司以及不安定地区的风险经营，

　　as well as risky operations, in unstable places.

　　伦敦上市公司的回报太过容易。

　　Mining and oil companies account for some 30% of the value of London's stockmarket, about twice the global weighting.

　　矿业、石油公司占伦敦股市价值的30%左右，几乎是其他股市总和的两倍。

　　Some of them are established firms, such as BHP Billiton, BP and Shell, but they also include a newer breed of mining stocks,

　　它们中有些是实体性的公司，如必和必拓、英国石油和壳牌。

　　such as ENRC and Bumi, which are ostensibly British companies but the balance of power among shareholders lies elsewhere.

　　但也有一些是矿业股票的衍生公司，如欧亚资源和布米能源，它们表面上看是英国公司，但实际股份控制权在别处。

　　The clashes between Mr Rothschild and his Indonesian partners show that his model of bolting British governance standards onto a foreign firm is defective, says a fund manager in London.

　　伦敦的一位基金管理人表示，罗斯柴尔德先生与其印尼合作伙伴的冲突表明，这种将英国公司的治理方法应用于外国公司的模式存在缺陷。

　　Fund managers who don't like the way a company is managed can in principle steer clear of it.

　　一般来说，不喜欢这种公司管理方式的基金管理人能够避开这样的公司，

　　But a company that qualifies for a London listing is also a candidate for inclusion in stockmarket indices,

　　但是一家公司有资格在伦敦上市，就有可能被用以计算工业。

　　such as the FTSE 100, an industry benchmark.

　　基准FTSE100等股市指数，

　　Low-cost funds that track such indices are obliged to buy these stocks whatever their merits.

　　追随这种指数的低成本基金不得不购买这种股票，不管它有没有投资价值。

　　And active fund managers can ill afford to steer clear of too many mining stocks or their portfolios might trail the overall market.

　　那些积极的基金管理人可能无法避开太多的矿业股或者矿业股组合，他们也许会追逐大市。

　　Set-ups like Bumi's seem designed to tap into this captive pool of capital.

　　布米能源等公司的组建似乎就是用来圈钱。

　　Ernest Bilko would admire the ingenuity. But investors deserve better.

　　欧尼斯特·毕尔克也会对这种天才的做法羡慕不已。但投资者理应得到更高的回报。