League table: Top ten M&A deals 2009 in China

By He Shan & Yuan Fang
0 CommentsPrint E-mail China.org.cn, December 28, 2009
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Editor's notes:

Despite a global economy downturn, China's capital market has never lost fizz over the past year as Chinese companies made high-profile in deal-making business.

Mergers and acquisitions across China are in full swing, largely led by Chinese companies who have been buying and selling at a record pace so far this year.

In the second quarter, outbound M&A outnumbered deals of Chinese assets by foreign companies, according to data from Zero2IPO Research Center.

Notably, Australian companies have been the most favored M&A target this year for Chinese companies, driven largely by China's huge appetite for natural resources to feed its growth.

The following M&A league table lists the top deals of 2009 in China based on impact, value and media exposure, including cases that failed, succeeded and are still subject to approval.

Rank

Partners

status

Nature

Value (US$)

1

Chinalco–Rio Tinto

failed

outbound

$19.5 bln

2

Coca Cola-Huiyuan

failed

inbound

$2.3 bln

3

PetroChina&CNOOC-Repsol YPF

ongoing

outbound

$13~14.5 bln

4

Geely-Volvo

ongoing

outbound

$2 bln

5

Tengzhong-Hummer

done

outbound

$100 mln

6

Yanzhou-Felix

done

outbound

$3.2 bln

7

ChinaEastern Airlines—Shanghai Airlines

ongoing

domestic

$1.3 bln

8

AVIC&ATL-FACC

done

outbound

$1.42 bln

9

Minmetals-OZ

done

outbound

$1.21 bln

10

Shanda-Hurray!

done

outbound

$46.2 mln



M&A in detail

1. Chinalco—Rio Tinto

June—acquisition—announced value: $19.5 billion

The biggest investment deal in both Australian and Chinese corporate histories collapsed, with Rio Tinto expected overnight to withdraw its board support for a $US19.5 billion investment from Chinese state-owned Chinalco.

The proposed deal would effectively have expanded Chinalco's stake of 9.3 percent in Rio to 18.5 percent.

Related reports:

Chinalco-Rio Tinto deal gets approval from US regulator

Rio Tinto scraps marriage with Chinalco

2. Coca Cola—Huiyuan

March—acquisition—announced value: $2.3 billion

The Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced on March 18 that Coca-Cola's bid to acquire China Huiyuan Juice Group failed to meet the country's anti-monopoly law. The acquisition of Huiyuan was the first major deal to test China's new anti-monopoly law, which took effect on Aug. 1, 2008.

Coca-Cola offered to buy Huiyuan, the nation's largest juice maker, for HK$17.92 billion (US$2.3 billion) in cash on Sept. 3.

Related reports:

Coke seeks approval for juice buy

Coca-Cola seeks anti-trust nod for Huiyuan deal

3. PetroChina&CNOOC—Repsol YPF

July—acquisition—announced value: $13~14.5 billion

On July 3, PetroChina partnered CNOOC in a joint bid to acquire controlling interests in Repsol YPF's Argentinean-based oil assets. Based in Spain, Repsol YPF is the world's eighth largest petroleum and oil company. The offer was estimated at US$22.6 billion with PetroChina proposing to take a 75 percent stake for US$17 billion and CNOOC offering US$5.6 billion for the other 25 percent.

Related reports:

Talks not begun on Repsol arm buy, CNPC says

CNPC and CNOOC eye Repsol YPF

4. Geely—Volvo

December--acquisition—announced value: $2 billion

China's Geely Automobile on October 28 was confirmed as preferred bidder in the ongoing discussions concerning the possible sale of Volvo Car Corporation. Ford Motor Corp on December 23 agreed on all major commercial terms with Geely.

Both car makers expected to sign the purchase agreement for Ford's money-losing Swedish car unit in the first quarter of next year, paving the way for completion of the deal in the second quarter.

Related reports:

Geely Volvo deal moves closer

Geely seeks $1b in bank loans for Volvo bid

Geely likely to get Volvo control soon

5. Tengzhong—Hummer

October—acquisition—announced value: $100 ~ $150 million

General Motors and Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery settled on a deal to sell GM's iconic Hummer brand on October 9. It is the first time that Chinese investors have stepped in as buyers in the US auto industry. G.M.'s talks with Sichuan Tengzhong were disclosed in June, and the agreement is still subject to regulatory approvals by the Chinese government. No terms were announced, but people with knowledge of the deal estimated the price at $150 million.

Related reports:

Tengzhong general manager details Hummer deal

MOC: no application for Hummer deal received

Hummer deal doesn't clear some issues

Tengzhong has a bumpy road ahead

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