英国卫报:走向失控的博姿药妆(9)

Set in black ink on pink paper in the Companies and Markets section of the FT, these are no more than the technicalities of a company buyout.

在英国《金融时报》的“公司与市场”板块里，这些用黑色墨水写在粉红色纸张上的内容不过是公司收购的技术性细节。

Yet they amount to a dramatic shift in power.

然而，这意味着权力的戏剧性转变。

Think about that previous paragraph again: a billionaire based in a tax haven¹, Pessina,

再想想前一段：一位住在避税港的亿万富翁，佩西纳，

and a small consortium of wealthy investors² and funds, represented by KKR, pick up a 158-year-old company employing around 70,000 Britons.

和一个以科克罗公司为代表的富有的投资者和基金组成的小财团，收购了一家拥有158年历史、约7万名英国人的公司。

To do so, they borrow billions from a few global banks and dump most of these loans on the balance sheet of Boots in the UK –

为此，它们从几家全球性银行借入数十亿美元，并将其中大部分贷款计入博姿英国公司资产负债表，

pushing it deep into debt, even though the debt has nothing to do with the actual business Boots does here.

将其推入债务的深渊，尽管债务和英国在这里实际的商业没有关系。

A firm that delivers an essential social service is now private, making it almost impossible for outsiders to see how it is changing.

一家提供重要社会服务的公司现在是私有的，局外人几乎不可能看到它是如何改变的。

Finally, the profits made by Boots UK are used to repay the lenders faster and ultimately leave more profit for the investors.

最后，博姿英国获得的利润将用于更快地偿还贷款，并最终将更多利润留给投资者。

In this way, British money – whether from customers or taxpayers³ – was siphoned offshore⁴.

通过这种方式，英国的资金——无论是来自客户还是纳税人的——都被抽到了海外。

The KKR funds that owned Alliance Boots were housed in the tax haven of the Cayman Islands, while the stakes held by Pessina were located in Luxembourg.

拥有联合博姿的科克罗公司基金位于避税港开曼群岛，而佩西纳持有的股份位于卢森堡。

A few months after going private, Alliance Boots shifted its headquarters from Nottingham to the low-tax canton of Zug in Switzerland.

在私有化几个月后，联合博姿将总部从从诺丁汉搬到了税率较低的瑞士楚格州。

There is nothing illegal about these arrangements, and a spokesman insisted at the time that the move to Zug was absolutely not for tax purposes:

这些安排并不违法，一名发言人当时坚称，搬到楚格州绝对不是为了缴税：

“We have chosen to locate the overall stewardship⁵ of the group in Switzerland

“我们选择将集团的整体管理工作设在瑞士，

as we believe it enhances the position of Alliance Boots as a leading international pharmacy-led health and beauty group.”

我们相信，这将加强联合博姿作为领先的国际医药保健美容集团的地位。”

Yet when Richard Brooks⁶, a former tax inspector⁷, visited Alliance Boots GmbH in 2012,

然而，当前税务稽查员理查德`布鲁克斯在2012年访问联合博靴有限公司时，

he found that its “headquarters” in Zug was “one of around 50 unrelated companies dealt with by a local business service company,

他发现该公司位于楚格州的“总部”是“当地一家商业服务公司与大约50家不相关的公司打交道，

the proprietors⁸ of which were none too pleased with the visit.” And, he reported, no Boots employees were present.

他们的老板对这次访问不太满意。而且，据他说，没有博姿的员工在场。

1 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

2 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

3 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

4 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

5 stewardship   

n. n. 管理工作；管事人的职位及职责

参考例句：

• The organization certainly prospered under his stewardship. 不可否认，这个组织在他的管理下兴旺了起来。
• Last, but certainly not least, are the issues of stewardship and ethics. 最后，但当然不是微不足道的，是工作和道德规范的问题。

6 brooks   

n.小溪( brook的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks gave the business when Haas caught him with his watch. 哈斯抓到偷他的手表的布鲁克斯时，狠狠地揍了他一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ade and Brooks exchanged blows yesterday and they were severely punished today. 艾德和布鲁克斯昨天打起来了，今天他们受到严厉的惩罚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

8 proprietors   

n.所有人，业主( proprietor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These little proprietors of businesses are lords indeed on their own ground. 这些小业主们，在他们自己的行当中，就是真正的至高无上的统治者。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Many proprietors try to furnish their hotels with antiques. 许多经营者都想用古董装饰他们的酒店。 来自辞典例句