Yanzhou Joins China Outbound Coal Train 兖州煤业加入中国海外煤炭并购大军
Top Chinese coal maker Shenhua (HKEx: 1088; Shanghai: 601088) may be firing up its engines for global M&A with its massive new capital raising plan, but it looks like domestic rival Yanzhou Coal (HKEx: 1171; Shanghai: 600188) may be first to land a major deal this year on that front. (English article) An unnamed source has told Reuters that Shenhua was actually also in the bidding for Australia’s Whitehaven Coal, and so was another domestic firm, China Coal Energy (HKEx: 1898; Shanghai: 601898), but those two have dropped out leaving Yanzhou as China’s sole representative. What all of this says is that Chinese companies are clearly out there hunting for overseas coal assets to feed China’s hungry economy — good for anyone selling such assets. As the most experienced of the Chinese trio in global M&A, Yanzhou may have an edge over its domestic rivals in the short term, and may even be willing to pay a premium for Whitehaven, which is valued at more than $3 billion. But I would look for Shenhua to get more aggressive in the months ahead, and China Coal could also end the year with a smaller deal or two.
Bottom line: China’s coal makers have been given the resources to do global M&A by Beijing, and are likely to land one or two major deals this year.
中国神华能源<601088.SS><1088.HK>在沪港两市进行大规模配股再融资，可能是在为海外并购举措作准备。但以目前情况来看，兖州煤业<600188.SS><1171.HK>也许会成为今年首个敲定大规模海外并购协议的中国煤企。一位不具名的消息人士告诉路透社，实际上，神华与中煤能源<601898.SS><1898.HK>也曾参与竞购澳大利亚煤矿商Whitehaven Coal，但这两家目前均已退出，让兖州煤业成为中方唯一竞购代表。这些情况均表明，中国企业收购海外煤矿资源的步伐明显加快，以满足国内经济发展需要，这对於任何出售此类资产的人来说都是良机。作为三家参与海外并购的煤企中最有经验的一家，兖州煤业在短期内或比国内对手更具优势，甚至可能愿意溢价竞购Whitehaven，後者估值超过30亿美元。但我认为，神华将在未来数月更具野心，而中煤在年底前可能也会完成规模较小的一两宗收购。
一句话：中国煤炭企业进行海外并购得到了本国政府支持，今年有望敲定一两宗规模可观的并购协议。
Related postings 有关文章:
◙ Shenhua Rights Issue Smells of Overseas M&A 神华能源可能进行海外并购
◙ PetroChina Gets in Bed wtih Saudis to Secure Oil Supplies 中石油的沙特“情缘”
