BHP Billiton launches $39bn hostile bid for PotashCorp

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BHP Billiton launched a hostile bid yesterday for PotashCorp, ignoring cries of undervaluation from the Canadian fertiliser group’s executives as the mining group took its $39bn offer directly to shareholders.
矿业集团必和必拓(BHP Billiton)昨不顾加拿大钾肥(PotashCorp)高管们关于估值过低的疾呼，对这家加拿大化肥集团发起敌意收购，向该集团股东直接提出了390亿美元的出价。

Analysts and investors expect the offer to rise, despite the claims of Marius Kloppers, BHP chief executive, that the $130 per share offer was “full and fair”.
分析师和投资者们预计出价将提高，尽管必和必拓首席执行官高瑞思(Marius Kloppers)声称，每股130美元的出价是“充分和公平的”。

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“The investors are saying that $160 per share is the level at which they start listening,” said a US mining analyst.
“投资者们在表示，到每股160美元的水平，他们才开始留心听，”一名美国矿业分析师表示。

In a bid that stands to be the biggest of the year, there was no hint last night of any competitors coming forward with bids that would immediately drive the price higher. By opening its offer at nearly $40bn, BHP erected financial barriers to entry that are insurmountable to any but a handful of miners such as Rio Tinto, Vale, Aluminum Corp of China, or Xstrata.
在这桩将会是今年规模最大的竞标中，昨晚没有任何竞争者示意竞标，竞标将立刻推高价格。必和必拓一开始就将出价开在近400亿美元，竖起了财务上的进入壁垒，除了力拓、淡水河谷、中国铝业(Aluminum Corp of China)或Xstrata这样的一小部分矿业公司外，其他矿业公司无法逾越这些壁垒。

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Tony Robson, mining analyst at BMO Capital Markets, said: “Vale is already spending $11bn on South American fertiliser assets and is refocused on Brazil, and Rio Tinto cannot afford to make a potential error of this magnitude given the fallout of its bid for Alcan.”
BMO Capital Markets矿业分析师托尼•罗布森(Tony Robson)表示：“淡水河谷(Vale)已在南美肥料资产上花费了110亿美元，而鉴于竞购加铝(Alcan)带来的后果，力拓(Rio Tinto)也不可能负担得起犯这么大规模潜在错误的代价。”

Analysts and industry executives speculated that PotashCorp was seeking a blocking defence, possibly involving Brazil’s Vale and Sinofer, a Chinese state fertiliser company.
分析师和业内高管揣测，加拿大钾肥在寻找抵御方法，可能涉及到巴西的淡水河谷和中国国有化肥公司中化化肥(Sinofert)。

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PotashCorp attempted to raise its defences on Tuesday by passing a “poison pill” shareholder rights plan.
加拿大钾肥周二试图通过“毒丸”股东权利方案来加强其防御。

Bidders can appeal to Canadian regulators to strike down poison pill defences, as Xstrata attempted during its successful takeover of Falconbridge.
竞标方能呼吁加拿大监管机构解除毒丸防御，就像Xstrata在成功收购鹰桥公司(Falconbridge)期间尝试做的那样。

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Mr Kloppers signalled that BHP could lead the potash market away from negotiated pricing in much the way that BHP helped bring an end to benchmark iron ore pricing.
高瑞思发出信号表示，必和必拓能以类似该公司帮助终结铁矿石基准定价的方法，带领钾肥市场告别协议定价。