奧巴馬上臺後美國企業已放棄3700億美元交易
US companies have abandoned $370bn of deals since Barack Obama came into power in 2009, with regulators under his administration blocking an unprecedented number of transactions to protect competition, jobs and the tax base.
自2009年巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)就任美國總統以來，美國公司已經放棄了總計3700億美元的交易。奧巴馬政府領導的監管機構阻止了空前數量的交易以保護競爭、就業和稅收基礎。
Corporate America responded with dismay on Tuesday after the Treasury proposed new rules that torpedoed Pfizer’s takeover of Dublin-based Allergan, valued at $160bn, or $190bn including debt, in an attempt to stop the drugmaker moving its headquarters to Ireland so it could avoid Billions of dollars in US taxes.
美國企業界週二感到沮喪，因爲美國財政部提出的新規讓輝瑞(Pfizer)收購總部位於都柏林的艾爾建(Allergan)的1600億美元交易（包括債務在內價值1900億美元）落空——新規旨在阻止這家制藥商將總部搬到愛爾蘭，以逃避數十億美元的美國稅單。
It was the latest in a series of interventions by branches of the Obama administration, which has thwarted more big-ticket deals than were blocked during the Bill Clinton and George W Bush eras put together, according to a Financial Times analysis of abandoned deals valued at more than $10bn.
這只是奧巴馬政府旗下機構一系列干預的最新一起。英國《金融時報》對價值100億美元以上的放棄交易進行分析後發現，奧巴馬政府封殺的大型交易比比爾•克林頓(Bill Clinton)和喬治·W·布什(George W Bush)時代的總和還要多。
In 2014, AbbVie pulled the plug on its $55bn takeover of Ireland-based Shire — another “inversion” that would have enabled it to slash its US tax bill — -following a similar putative rule change by the Treasury.
2014年，在美國財政部類似的推定規則改變之後，艾伯維(AbbVie)取消了以550億美元收購總部位於愛爾蘭的Shire的交易——那是另一筆將讓企業逃避美國稅收的“稅收倒置”交易。
The administration has also blocked several big telecoms deals in an attempt to protect competition. Comcast withdrew its $71bn takeover of Time Warner Cable last year, after the Department of Justice signalled it would try to stop the deal. AT&T dropped its $39bn bid for T-Mobile US in 2011 after the DoJ sued to block the deal, while Nasdaq’s $11bn attempt to take over the New York Stock Exchange was thwarted by antitrust concerns.
奧巴馬政府還阻止了數項大型電信交易以保護競爭。在美國司法部暗示將試圖阻止交易之後，康卡斯特(Comcast)去年取消了710億美元收購時代華納有線(Time Warner Cable)的交易。在美國司法部提起訴訟以阻止交易之後，美國電報電話公司(AT&T)於2011年放棄了390億美元收購T-Mobile US的交易，同時納斯達克(Nasdaq)以110億美元收購紐約證交所(New York Stock Exchange)的努力也因反壟斷擔憂而落空。
In contrast, the Bush administration blocked just one large deal — the $27bn takeover of Hughes Electronic by EchoStar, the satellite TV group. Two big M&A transactions were torpedoed under Mr Clinton: the $12bn takeover of military supplier Northrop Grumman by its larger rival Lockheed Martin, and MCI WorldCom’s $125bn bid for Sprint, the mobile network.
相比之下，布什政府僅阻止了一項大型交易，即衛星電視集團EchoStar以270億美元收購Hughes Electronic的交易。克林頓政府阻止了兩項大型併購交易，即軍品供應商諾思羅普•格魯曼公司(Northrop Grumman)被其較大的競爭對手洛克希德馬丁(Lockheed Martin)以120億美元收購的交易，以及世界通信公司(MCI WorldCom)以1250億美元競購移動網絡Sprint的交易。
The current administration’s interventionist posture has provoked anger on Wall Street. One large life sciences investor with holdings in Pfizer, Allergan and AbbVie said the administration was building an “artificial prison for pharmaceutical companies, rather than dealing with the underlying issue” of relatively high taxes for US companies.
本屆政府的干預姿態在華爾街引發憤慨。一家在輝瑞、艾爾建和艾伯維均有持股的大型生命科學投資者表示，奧巴馬政府正在“爲製藥公司建造一所人爲的監獄，而不是處理美國企業稅負相對較高的根本問題”。
However, officials argue that the Obama era has coincided not only with a series of tax inversions but also with an unprecedented level of dealmaking. They believe some sectors are in danger of becoming uncompetitive after decades of consolidation.
然而，官員們辯稱，奧巴馬時代不僅趕上了一系列“稅收倒置”交易，而且交易撮合規模也達到史無前例的水平。他們相信，在幾十年的整合之後，一些行業有失去競爭的危險。
Debbie Feinstein, director of the -Federal Trade Commission’s competition bureau, told the FT: “There’s no question that we’re going to be aggressive against conduct or mergers that are going to harm competition or consumers.”
聯邦貿易委員會(Federal Trade Commission，簡稱FTC)的反壟斷局局長戴比•范斯坦(Debbie Feinstein)向英國《金融時報》表示：“我們將打擊有損競爭或消費者的行爲或併購交易，這是毫無疑問的。”
