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Never forget: Samsung is a family business. Before the hospitalization last
month of chairman Lee Kun-hee, restructuring news about the group was already
trickling out. Since then, the trickle has become a flood. On Tuesday, Samsung
Everland announced listing plans while Samsung Electronics completed the
purchase of shares in associates Cheil Industries and Samsung SDI, siblings
which merged this year.
别忘了：三星(Samsung)是一间家族企业。在其董事长李健熙(Lee
Kun-hee)上月住院之前，关于该集团重组的消息就已点点滴滴地传出。自那以来，涓涓细流变成了一股洪流。本周二，三星爱宝乐园(Samsung
Everland)宣布上市计划，而三星电子(Samsung Electronics)完成了对已在今年合并的联营公司——三星第一毛织(Cheil
Industries)和三星SDI——股票的收购。
Reorganizing Korea’s unwieldy chaebol, or conglomerates, is nothing new.
The late-1990s Asian financial crisis pushed the chaebol to put their houses in
order. But investors still await greater sway over management and
investor-friendly uses of surplus cash to drive valuations towards those of
international peers (Samsung trades at eight times forward earnings).
对大而无当的韩国财阀(Chaebol)进行重组并非新鲜事。90年代末的亚洲金融危机，就曾迫使韩国财阀改组业务。但投资者至今仍在期待获得对管理层的更大支配力，期待企业以有益于投资者的方式使用盈余现金，从而推动估值接近全球竞争对手(三星股价的预期市盈率是8倍)。
“Restructuring” might imply that Samsung’s structure will become cleaner.
That is unlikely. The share purchases, as well as the proposed listings of
Samsung SDS (technology logistics) and Samsung Everland (construction, golf
courses, fashion), are about the family. As one Korean broker delicately puts
it, “capital raised . . . will probably be used to pay inheritance tax or
strengthen ownership of affiliates over which the family needs to gain greater
control”. (The broker rates Samsung Electronics a buy, of course).
“重组”也许暗示着三星将在结构上变得更简洁。但这不太可能。上述股票收购，以及三星SDS(科技物流)和三星爱宝乐园(建筑、高尔夫球场和时尚)的上市计划，都是出于家族的需要。正如韩国一家经纪商所细腻描述的：“募集的资金……很可能被用于支付遗产税，或者被用来加强对附属公司的所有权——家族需要对此拥有更大的控制。”(这家经纪商对三星电子的股票评级当然是“买入”。)
What does this mean beyond the clan? In the short run, not a lot.
Reshuffling of company holdings still leaves outside investors without a
meaningful say. Listing private family companies suggests accountability but is
often designed to achieve the reverse. In the long run, however, interests may
converge. Family cash requirements could spur increased payouts to all
shareholders. The desire to maintain control may drive buybacks, deploying cash
piles that have built at Samsung Electronics ($60bn) and other group
companies.
在家族以外，重组意味着什么?从短期来看，没什么太大意义。对公司所持资产进行洗牌，仍然没有留给外部投资者任何实质发言权。将家族私有的企业上市，貌似要建立问责机制，但往往是为了达到相反的目的。然而从长远来看，各方利益可能融合。家族的现金需求有望推动面向全体股东的更高股息。维持控制的欲望可能驱动股票回购，动用三星电子(600亿美元)和集团其它成员公司积累的现金。
The time this takes is likely to be measured in generations, not years.
Investors waiting for a re-rating had better settle in.
这一过程所需的时间，可能需要用世代(而非几年)来衡量。等待股票重新评级的投资者，最好准备好长期坚持。
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发表于 2016-7-10 18:04:59