通航民企上演「蛇吞象」

114億元收購

北京卓越航空工業公司董事長成身棕隨后向外界表示，卓越航空收購美國豪客比奇公司的交易申請已經獲得國家發改委的正式批文，這筆收購預計將在10月中下旬最終確定。根據協議，在45天的排他期限內，卓越航空將在雙方進行交易最終協議談判的同時開展確認性盡職調查。

豪客比奇首席執行官Steve Miller認為，卓越航空的方案反映出其將豪客比奇作為重大戰略投資的意愿，保留豪客比奇的美國總部、管理團隊和員工，繼續開發豪客比奇公務機產品線。

如果雙方最終協議談判成功，該協議將取決于更進一步的競爭性公開競標程序。軍用性質的豪客比奇防務公司不屬于計劃交易之列，其控股權或控制權都不會轉讓給卓越航空。豪客比奇防務公司出售仍需要美國破產法庭的批準并經過拍賣程序，如果被出售，17.9億美元收購價格中的4億美元將退還給卓越航空。豪客比奇公司5月向法院提出破產保護申請，啟動重組計劃，以解除約25億美元的債務以及約1.25億美元的年度現金利息支出。

豪客比奇首席執行官Steve Miller表示，卓越航空對豪客比奇的公務機業務一直有興趣，第一次接洽豪客比奇是幾年前有關戰略合作的商談，更重要的是卓越航空有運營美國破產公司的經驗。Steve Miller說，這次合并利好豪客比奇拓展中國業務，為進入中國通用航空市場提供更大便利。根據預測，中國通用航空市場未來10～15年對飛機的需求量每年將增長10%以上。

另有5家競買者

過去幾個月，豪客比奇也一直在與其他5個買家接洽，其中包括美國德事隆有限公司、印度MahindraMahindraLtd.、巴西航空工業公司及另一家中國民營企業江蘇新譽集團，美國私募股權投資公司凱雷投資集團近幾周來也在考慮競購。德事隆與巴航均是公務機市場的主流制造商。

豪客比奇北亞區市場公關總監王競表示，如果雙方談判成功，將進入公開競標程序，其他有意向的公司也可以提交收購方案和提出報價。“如果有更高的收購報價，我們會綜合考慮各方因素，并上報美國破產法院，最終還需要美國破產法院批準和裁定。”目前，卓越航空得到了北京市政府對其完成交易的支持。

公開資料顯示，卓越航空成立于2010年7月8日，注冊資本2億元人民幣，位于北京亦莊經濟技術開發區，主要從事航空發動機配件的生產，通用航空發動機及零配件的設計、技術開發、銷售。其中，成身棕控股的北京卓越航空技術有限公司擁有卓越航空60%的股份，其余40%股份由北京市政府支持特定工業領域戰略投資的融資平臺——北京亦莊國際投資發展有限公司擁有。

起底成身棕

在公務航空和通航界，圈內人士對卓越航空的突然殺出頗感意外，卓越航空董事長成身棕也不為圈內人士所熟知。從事航空制造之前，成身棕在青島所從事的是油品貿易。成身棕名下還有一家青島中達長信實業股份有限公司，該公司成立于2001年7月6日，涉及的行業包括食品、房地產、能源、燃料油、物流、進出口等領域。

成身棕真正進入航空制造業始于2007年，當年他從國有企業北京外企服務公司手里接手了一家位于美國德克薩斯州的勃蘭特利國際公司（Brantly International Inc.）。該公司1994年被北京外企服務公司收購，據稱，曾被列為“全美十大直升機制造廠商”之一。

當年青島中達長信更名青島勃蘭特利投資咨詢有限公司，與勃蘭特利國際合資成立了青島海利直升機公司，利用美方技術生產B-2B、305輕型直升機。作為國內首家民營直升機制造商，成身棕自2009年以700萬美元收購美國卓越發動機公司后而搖身一變為 “中國直升機大王”。卓越航空方面透露，成身棕將旗下業務從青島移至北京，與北京市在產業等方面給出的優惠政策分不開。

成身棕此前也表示，當時收購美國卓越的資金除了自有資金其余都是借貸，而此次收購豪客比奇在收購資金方面已做好準備，其中一部分來自國家開發銀行的貸款，另一部分源自公司資金，而具體所占的數額比例不便透露。

質疑聲不斷

卓越航空收購豪客比奇在美國政商兩界并未出現尖銳的反對聲音，只是美方分析人士認為此項收購前景仍不明確，認為卓越航空并不具備收購能力，不像中航通用飛機有限責任公司（CAIGA）那樣有實力。中航通飛在2011年并購了美國西銳飛機工業公司。國內也有專家提出質疑，該收購無法帶來中國的航空制造業產業水平的提高。

在賽斯納和巴西航空工業等公務機主流企業紛紛與中航工業合資合作在華生產公務機，搶占中國市場的背景下，有通航投資人士明確指出，卓越航空這種不搬生產線、不改變技術資產所屬、不裁員的收購，一般要按收益比例計算，這樣豪客的收購價值可能要縮水50%。

“目前公務機行業平均凈利潤在6%左右，豪客比奇的公務機平均單價按3000萬美元計算，凈利只有180萬美元，要賣1000架飛機才能賺回來所支付的收購金額， 在全球經濟增長放緩的情況下，公務機行業能否回歸金融危機前的水平也是一個未知數，6%的盈利能力能否保證也很難下定論。但卓越航空此舉與騰中收購悍馬有一點相同，不管是否成功，卓越航空在中國甚至全球公務和通用航空界都打響了知名度。”一位通航專業人士評論說。

王競則表示：“市場對豪客比奇價值的質疑并不公允。2011年豪客比奇在全球的交貨量仍然達到了320架的水平，特別是比奇空中國王系列的渦槳飛機在全球的市場占有率高達41%，這是任何廠商都無法撼動的。”同時，豪客公務機的銷量也表明了市場的態度。

豪客比奇此次重組的競買者名單中未出現央企中航工業的名字，并不代表豪客比奇對與中航工業的合作不感興趣，更可能的情況是中航工業對這項收購交易表現出了十足的謹慎。收購美國一家發動機公司與收購一家全球化運營的公務機公司是不能相提并論的。“蛇吞象”后如何做到能夠好消化，而不是接過來一塊“燙手的山芋”，這是擺在卓越航空和想“走出去”的中國通航企業面前的最難課題。

The Rmb11.4billion Deal

Cheng Shenzhong， chairman of Brilliance said openly that the deal had been approved by the National Development and Research Commission (NDRC) and would be finalized by mid-end October. According to the agreement， Brilliance will conduct a due diligence in the 45-day exclusive period while continuing with final negotiations with Hawker Beechcraft.

Steve Miller， CEO of Hawker Beechcraft believed that the Brilliance proposal reflected its intention to make a major strategic investment in Hawker Beechcraft. The U.S. headquarters， management team and employees will all be kept and Brilliance will continue to develop Hawker Beechcraft’s product portfolio.

If the final negotiations conclude successfully， further competitive bidding will take place. The defense business of Hawker Beechcraft has been excluded from the deal， and the ownership and control will not be transferred to Brilliance. The sale of Hawker Beechcraft defense business will need the approval of the American bankruptcy court as well as a bidding procedure. If sold， $400million out of $1.79billion will be returned to Brilliance. In May， Hawker Beechcraft applied for bankruptcy protection to the court， and kicked off a restructuring plan， to relieve $2.5billion debts and approximately $125million annual cash interest payments.

Steve Miller said that Brilliance had been very interested in the corporate jet business of Hawker Beechcraft. A few years ago， Brilliance had already contacted Hawker Beechcraft for strategic cooperation. What’s more important， Brilliance had experience with managing bankrupt business in the U.S. Steve Miller says that the merger will help Hawker Beechcraft to expand its China business in general aviation， which is expected to grow by over 10% annually in the next 10-15 years.

Five Other Bidders

In the last few months， Hawker Beechcraft has been talking with other five bidders， including Textron of the U.S.， MahindraMahindraLtd of India， Embraer and another Chinese private enterprise， Jiangsu Xinyu. Carlyle， a PE from the U.S. has been mulling over participating in the bidding as well. Textron and Embraer are all major corporate jet manufacturers.

Wang Jing， PR manager of Hawker Beechcraft， North Asia said that successful bilateral negotiation would lead to open bidding， in which other potential bidders can also participate. “If there emerge higher bidders， we will take overall considerations and report to the American bankruptcy court for final approval and ruling.” Brilliance is being supported by the Beijing government.

Brilliance was incorporated on July 8th， 2010， with Rmb2million registered capital and is based in Yizhuang Economic and Technology Development Zone in Beijing. It is engaged in designing and manufacturing of aviation engine components and spare parts. Mr. Cheng Shenzhong owns 60% of the stake in Brilliance Aviation through a holding company. The remaining stake is owned by Beijing Yizhuang International Investment Development Company， a financing vehicle designated by the Beijing government.

Mr. Cheng Shenzhong

Insiders in the business aviation sector are taken aback by the sudden emergency of Brilliance and the unknown Mr. Cheng Shenzhong. Mr. Cheng was in oil trade in Qingdao before coming to aviation. He controls a company called Qingdao Zhongda Changxin Industries Holdings， which was established on July 6th， 2001， with business spanning from food， to real estate， energies， fuel， logistics and import and export.

Mr. Cheng Shenzhong got involved in aviation manufacturing in 2007. He took over Brantly International Inc in Texas of the U.S. from the state-owned Beijing Foreign Enterprise Services Company (FESCO). FESCO acquired the business in 1994. Brantly was once listed as one of the top 10 helicopter manufacturers in the U.S.

Mr. Cheng’s Qingdao Zhongda changed its name to Brantly Investment Consultancy and entered in a joint venture with Brantly to establish Qingdao Haili Helicopters， utilizing American technologies to produce light helicopters such as B-2B and 305. As the first private helicopter manufacturer in China， Cheng Shenzhong acquired the American Brilliance Engine with $7million in 2009 and all of a sudden became the helicopter king in China. Brilliance revealed that Cheng Shenzhong moved the company to Beijing， thanks to the favorable policies from the local government.

Mr. Cheng Shenzhong said earlier that his company used its own reserve capital but mostly loans to acquire Brilliance in the past. This time round， it has prepared capital for the Hawker Beechcraft acquisition， a combination of loans from the National Development Bank and itsS reserve capital. The company is not disclosing the particular ratios.

Questioned and Challenged

The American political and business communities are not really opposing the deal. Some American analysts think that the prospect of the plan is unclear， that Brilliance is not a strong acquirer like CAIGA. CAIGA acquired Cirrus of the U.S.in 2011. Chinese experts on the other hand questioned the deal’s benefits in improving aviation manufacturing in China.

Cessna and Embraer are working with AVIC to manufacture corporate jets in China and try to win the market in China. General aviation investors point out that Brilliance will not move production line and change asset ownership， nor lay off staff. This means the value of the acquisition can shrink by as much as 50%.

“Average net profits in corporate jet are about 6%. Hawker Beechcraft’s corporate jet is priced at $30million on average， with net profits as low as $1.8million. You need to sell 1，000 planes to get back what you have paid for acquisition. With slowing global economy， it is uncertain whether corporate jet can recover its profitability level before the financial crisis. It is also too early to determine whether 6% profit margin can be maintained. The only thing that can be said is that Brilliance put itself on the global scene， just like what Teng Zhong did with the Hummer acquisition”， commented a general aviation professional.

In response， Wang Jing said that “The market is not fair in questioning Hawker Beechcraft’s value. Hawker Beechcraft delivered as many as 320 aircrafts in 2011.Turboprop commands 41% market share globally， a position unchallengeable by any other manufacturer.” Hawker Beechcraft’s corporate jet sales indicate its market position.

The state-owned AVIC doesn’t appear on the bidder list， but this doesn’t mean Hawker Beechcraft is not keen to work with AVIC. It is likely that AVIC is cautious about the deal. To acquire an engine manufacturer is totally different from devouring a global jet OEM. The snake needs to digest the elephant; this is the toughest challenge for Brilliance and all the other general aviation enterprises trying to go international.

名不見經傳的中國民企收購海外知名企業，上演“蛇吞象”戲碼的事件已屢見不鮮，如今從騰中收購悍馬的汽車界演繹到公務航空市場中。7月9日，擁有80多年歷史的美國老牌公務機及特殊任務飛機制造商豪客比奇宣布，與中國民營企業北京卓越航空工業有限公司（卓越航空）簽署戰略合并排他協議。卓越航空將以17.9億美元（約合114億元人民幣）收購豪客比奇（涉及軍工的防務資產不在其中）。

Chinese private enterprises seem to be coming of age. Teng Zhong， a virtually unknown， had acquired Hummer. The snake devouring elephant story is now happening in general aviation. On July 9th， Hawker Beechcraft， the 80-plus-year American manufacturer of corporate jets and specialty aircrafts announced an exclusive strategic merger agreement with the private Chinese Brilliance Aviation. Brilliance shall pay $1.79billion (approximately Rmb11.4billion) to acquire Hawker Beechcraft (excluding its defense business).