Shenhua Rights Issue Smells of Overseas M&A 神华能源可能进行海外并购
An announcement by leading Chinese coal producer Shenhua Energy (HKEx: 1088; Shanghai: 601088) that it could raise a whopping 160 billion yuan, or more than $20 billion, through rights offerings in Hong Kong and Shanghai seems to have gone largely unnoticed, perhaps because it came in a Sunday filing in Shanghai (English article; Chinese filing) The few reports I saw didn’t add much more, though some quoted analysts saying Shenhua already has plenty of cash. Excuse me if I’m missing something, but it 
seems a fund raising of this proportion, far bigger than what most of the major banks did last year, has M&A written all over it, most likely overseas. It would make total sense, as China’s oil majors, PetroChina (NYSE: PTR; HKEx: 857; Shanghai: 601857), Sinopec (NYSE: SNP; HKEx: 386) and CNOOC (NYSE: CEO; HKEx: 883), have all been active on this front under orders from Beijing to secure energy to feed China’s buzzing economy. Just where we might see Shenhua do its first major overseas M&A remains to be determined, but I would expect a major deal in the next 12 months.
Bottom line: Look for a major overseas purchase from Shenhua in the next 12 months.
有报导说，中国神华能源(1088.HK: 行情)(601088.SS: 行情)已宣布将在沪港两市进行价值或高达1,600亿元人民币的配股再融资。但或许因为该公告是周日在上海发布的，似乎多数人都没有注意到。我看到的少数报导并未谈及更多内容，尽管部分文章援引分析师的话说，神华其实已经握有充足的现金。如果我的论述有所遗漏还请见谅，但上述融资规模远远超过了去年多数大型银行的再融资规模——可以说处处带有并购意图的印记，而且很可能是在海外进行并购。海外并购其实很有道理。为确保能源供应，中国政府已要求中石油(0857.HK: 行情)(PTR.N: 行情)、中石化(0386.HK: 行情)(SNP.N: 行情)、中海油(0883.HK: 行情)(CEO.N: 行情)等企业积极进行海外并购。神华将在何处进行首次海外重大并购还是个未知数，但我预计，该公司会在未来一年内进行一次大规模的海外并购。
一句话：神华能源未来一年内料将进行一次规模可观的海外收购。
Related postings 有关文章:
◙ PetroChina Gets in Bed wtih Saudis to Secure Oil Supplies 中石油的沙特“情缘”
◙ China’s Oil Shuffle: Not So Fast, Naysayers 石油巨头高管轮换：先别急着唱衰
