几乎加拿大提供的一切资源中国都想要,不过它的银行服务除外。
That is odd. China craves Canada's oil, natural gas, rare-earth metals and potash. Canada's resources also include 1.4 million Chinese-Canadians with plenty of guanxi, the personal relationships that grease the wheels of business in China. And Canada's banks have a solid reputation after coming through the financial crisis relatively unscathed.
这一点很奇怪。中国渴望得到加拿大的石油、天然气、稀土金属和碳酸钾等。此外,加拿大资源还包括140万有着多种“关系”的加籍华人,他们可利用自己的人际关系推动在华业务顺利进行。而在经历了金融危机这场暴风雨之后,加拿大银行业相对来说可谓是安然无恙,从而为自己树立了可靠的声誉。
Meanwhile, China's resource-hungry state-owned enterprises have spent more than $10 billion on deals in Canada's energy and mining sectors in the past 18 months, according to the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. China Investment Corp., a sovereign wealth fund, announced plans in January to set up its first overseas office -- in Toronto. And Canada last year was second to Brazil for completed Chinese mergers and acquisitions abroad, according to Dealogic.
据加拿大亚太基金会(Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada)的统计,中国渴求资源的国有企业在过去一年半里,对加拿大能源和矿业产业交易已投资逾100亿美元。主权财富基金中国投资有限责任公司今年1月宣布,计划在多伦多建立第一个海外办事处。数据提供商Dealogic透露,中国去年已完成的海外并购从金额上看,加拿大排名第二,仅次于巴西。
Yet Canadian banks are largely conspicuous by their absence when it comes to deals involving Chinese companies.
然而,当交易涉及到中国企业时,加拿大银行业却因缺席而颇为惹人注意。
In 2010, Bank of Nova Scotia ranked ninth in overall Chinese-outbound M&A. That was due to a single, large deal. You have to scroll right down the rankings to No. 59 to find the next Canadian bank, Royal Bank of Canada, which advised on two deals worth less than $1 billion in aggregate. So far this year, RBC ranks fifth, courtesy of advising Canada's Encana Corp. on its $5.4 billion investment in a natural-gas joint venture with PetroChina.
2010年中国海外并购活动银行赚取的咨询费排名中,加拿大丰业银行(Bank of Nova Scotia)位列第九,而这是源于一笔单独的大规模交易。在这个排行榜上,下一个出现的加拿大银行是加拿大皇家银行(Royal Bank of Canada),位列第59,它为两笔总计不超过10亿美元的交易提供了咨询服务。不过今年截至目前,加拿大皇家银行的排名是第五位,原因是它为加拿大能源公司(Encana Corp.)斥资54亿美元与中国石油天然气股份有限公司(PetroChina)建立天然气合资企业提供了咨询服务。
Outside advising Canadian clients who own the assets China wants, there is little evidence Canada's banks have built up the corporate connections needed to create a sustained M&A-advisory business in China.
除为那些拥有中国企业希望收至囊中的资产的加拿大客户提供咨询外,鲜有证据表明,加拿大银行业已建立了中国并购活动持续咨询业务所需的企业联系。
Part of the problem is a lack of cross-border understanding. RFP Co., a boutique consultancy in Hong Kong, says only six of 70 top executives at the big Canadian banks have any experience living in Asia.
这其中的部分原因是双方缺乏理解。香港专业咨询公司RFP Co.说,加拿大知名银行的70位高管中,只有六位有亚洲的生活经历。
China's state-owned enterprises tend to favor their own banks or bulge-bracket brands like Goldman Sachs. Relevant expertise, such as mining professionals or geologists on staff, appears to count for less, according to Canadian bankers based in Asia.
中国国有企业一般喜欢中资银行或高盛集团(Goldman Sachs)等全球知名投行为自己提供咨询服务。驻亚洲的加拿大银行业人士表示,相关的专长,比如说拥有矿业方面的专业人员或地质学家之类的员工,对于中国国有企业来说似乎不怎么重要。
Canada's big five -- Bank of Nova Scotia, RBC, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Toronto-Dominion Bank and Bank of Montreal -- do have businesses in China. So far, though, these operations have focused more on wealth management and insurance. Their investment-banking units have tended to focus on deals involving U.S. companies -- understandable, given that 86% of Canadian deals in 2010 involved only Canadians and Americans, according to a recent report from PricewaterhouseCoopers.
加拿大丰业银行、加拿大皇家银行、加拿大帝国商业银行(Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce)、多伦多道明银行(Toronto-Dominion Bank)和蒙特利尔银行(Bank of Montreal)这五个加拿大银行巨头都在中国有分支机构。不过到目前为止,这些机构所做的业务更侧重于理财和保险,而其投资银行部门的业务重点一般是涉及美国企业的交易──鉴于普华永道(PricewaterhouseCoopers)最近的一份报告显示,2010年86%的加拿大交易涉及的仅为加拿大和美国企业,这一点不难理解。
China has spotted Canada's potential: Chinese acquisition activity in Canada last year was up 392% from the prior peak in 2007, according to PwC. The question for Canadian banks is whether they can mine China's interest for sustainable advisory fees.
中国已找到了加拿大的潜力所在。普华永道表示,去年中国在加拿大的并购活动较2007年的峰值增加了392%。对于加拿大银行业来说,现在的问题是,它们能否挖掘中国企业对自己的兴趣并赚到可持续的咨询费。