中國的“鋼鐵公主”
作為中國最富有的女性之一，陳寧寧(Diana Chen)并不是人們印象中典型的鋼鐵大王。
Diana Chen, one of China’s richest women, is not your typical iron industry baron.
陳寧寧今年36歲，是受過西方教育的“高干子弟”她已故的外祖父呂東曾于上世紀60年代和70年代擔任原冶金工業部部長。
Ms Chen, 36, is a Western-educated “princeling”, as the children and grandchildren of China’s communist elite are known. Her late grandfather, Lu Dong, was China’s metallurgy minister in the 1960s and 1970s.
今年夏天，陳寧寧對香港上市的中國東方集團(China Oriental Group)發起了敵意收購。此前，她與持有東方集團45%股權的主席韓敬遠鬧翻。東方集團控制著湖北省一座中等規模的鋼鐵廠。
This summer, Ms Chen launched a hostile takeover for Hong Kong-listed China Oriental Group, which controls a mid-sized steel mill in Hebei province. Her bid came after a falling out with Han Jingyuan, Oriental’s chairman, who controls 45 per cent of the company.
在由陳寧寧外祖父等保守派中央計劃官員打造出的鋼鐵產業中，這種舉動頗不尋常。但這位中國“鋼鐵公主”的職業路徑就頗不尋常。 Such manoeuvres are unusual in an industry forged by conservative central planners such as Ms Chen’s grandfather. But then so is the career path of China’s “iron princess”.
上世紀90年代早期，陳寧寧到紐約理工學院(New York Institute of Technology)攻讀MBA學位，畢業后回香港與母親一同創辦了嘉鑫鋼鐵集團有限公司(Pioneer Iron & Steel Group)。她的母親在大學期間曾學習冶金專業，但此前從未涉足該行業。在此后短短10年時間，嘉鑫鋼鐵成為中國最大的鐵礦石民營進口商。去年，《福布斯》雜志(Forbes)估計，陳寧寧個人財富高達2.16億美元。
In the early 1990s, Ms Chen studied for an MBA degree at the New York Institute of Technology before returning to Hong Kong to start Pioneer Iron & Steel Group with her mother, who had studied metallurgy in university but was not previously involved in the industry. In little more than a decade since, Pioneer has become one of the largest private importers of iron ore into China. Last year Forbes magazine estimated Ms Chen’s wealth at $216m.
“這其實就是通過非傳統手段進入一個傳統行業，”陳寧寧表示，“從前，所有人都從事簡單的貿易。我們利用無形資產和技術幫助（武漢鋼鐵集團和鞍鋼新軋等國有企業）獲得貸款，并對其進行改造，準備進行首次公開發行(IPO)。”
“It was a matter of using non-traditional means to approach a traditional industry,” Ms Chen says. “Before, everyone just did simple trading. We used intangible assets and skills to help [state-owned companies such as Wuhan Iron and Steel Group, and Angang New Steel Company] get loans and to reform themselves to prepare for IPOs.”
陳寧寧表示，這些服務都是免費提供的，但它們有助于建立關系，并使她對這些公司有了深入了解。到世紀交替之際，鋼鐵行業開始在中國經濟發展的推動下復蘇，當時，嘉鑫處在將中國鋼鐵制造商與外國鐵礦企業結合的良好位置。她表示：“到2003年，中國大約15%至20%的鐵礦石由我們進口。”
Those services were provided free of charge, says Ms Chen, but they helped build relationships and gave her an in-depth knowledge of the companies. By the turn of the century, when the steel industry revived on the back of China’s economic growth, Pioneer was well-positioned to bring together China’s steel makers and foreign iron miners. “By 2003, we were importing about 15-20 per cent of China’s iron ore,” she says.
陳寧寧承認，作為中國共產黨高層官員的后代，身份對她有所幫助，“但只是人們知道你來自一個有名望的家庭。我的外祖父從沒貪污過，我母親經常教導我不要令我外祖父的名聲蒙羞……我有關系，但我從沒用過。”
Ms Chen admits that being the descendant of a top communist official has helped, “but only in the sense that people knew you came from a respectable family. My grandfather was never corrupt, and my mother always told me not to shame my grandfather’s name?.?.?.?I had the guanxi [connections], but I never used them.”
陳寧寧表示，她向中國東方集團股東提出的競價，代表著復興這家公司的“最后努力”。她聲稱，該集團是為數不多的完全不受國家控制的上市鋼鐵公司之一，但它沒能充分利用其作為一家香港上市公司，可以進入現代金融市場的渠道。
Ms Chen says her offer to China Oriental’s shareholders represents a “final effort” to revitalise the company. She claims the group, one of China’s few publicly listed steel companies that is completely free of state ownership, failed to make full use of its access to modern financial markets as a Hong Kong-listed company.
極少有人嘗試在香港進行敵意收購，在香港許多規模較小的上市公司，都是最大的股東持有控股權。但陳寧寧表示，如果她獲得成功，就計劃進行大舉籌資，并收購規模較小的競爭對手。
Hostile takeover attempts are extremely rare in Hong Kong, where in many smaller listed companies the largest shareholder owns a controlling stake. But if she succeeds, Ms Chen says she plans to aggressively raise funds and acquire smaller rivals.
“如果失敗，我將退出該公司。我還有其它計劃，比如收購另一家工廠，但我還沒傻到在沒做最后努力之前就放棄的地步。”
“If I fail, I will exit the company. I have other plans such as buying another mill, but I am not so silly as to give up before this one last try.”
中國東方集團董事會（除陳寧寧以外）已表示，她對該公司的競購是主動進行的，而且“沒有得到董事會的支持”。上周，董事會建議股東拒絕此次收購。目前未能聯系到韓敬遠予以置評。 China Oriental’s board, excluding Ms Chen, has said her bid for the company was unsolicited and “did not have the support of the board”. Last week, it advised shareholders to reject the offer. Mr Han could not be reached for comment.
陳寧寧的出價相當于每股3港元，遠低于該股上周五3.59港元的收盤價。在今年2月首次宣布此次收購交易時，中國東方集團的股價為2.24港元，陳寧寧聲稱，最近的漲幅“與（她的）報價有關，不會持續下去”。
Ms Chen’s offer price amounts to HK$3 per share, well below Friday’s closing price of HK$3.59. China Oriental shares traded at HK$2.24 when the takeover was first announced in February, and Ms Chen claims the recent gains were “related to [her] offer and not sustainable”.
陳寧寧的競購被稱作是私營行業對中國政府的首次回應之一，中國政府正努力將全國260家鋼鐵公司整合成規模更大、更具競爭力的集團。國有控股的武漢鋼鐵(Wuhan Iron & Steel)和鞍鋼(Angang)等公司已開始著手進行并購交易。 Ms Chen’s bid has been billed as one of the first private-sector responses to Beijing’s efforts to consolidate the nation’s 260 iron and steel companies into larger, more competitive groups. State-controlled Wuhan Iron & Steel and Angang, among others, have already embarked on mergers and acquisition deals.
陳寧寧表示：“5年內，中國鋼鐵業將進行整合，并出現超大型鋼鐵公司。”
“In five years’ time there will be consolidation and mega steel companies in China.” Ms Chen says.
“如果你不收購其它公司，你就會被別人收購。”
“If you don’t acquire others, you will be acquired.”
