Sale Of Fortis Teeters After Ping An Says No

比利时政府正在努力落实将陷入困境的银行集团富通(Fortis NV)出售给法国巴黎银行(BNP Paribas SA)的交易计划。富通股东将于周三投票表决这一交易，而重要股东中国平安保险(集团)股份有限公司已于周日表示将投反对票。中国平安保险这一决定是对比利时政府出售富通计划的一大打击，也是中国投资者维权行动不断升温的最新迹象。中国投资者去年曾大举入股西方银行，但此后投资遭遇了惨重损失。去年秋天，比利时卢森堡和荷兰三国联手对跨国银行和保险公司富通实施了救助。富通的命运还让比利时首相被迫因此辞职。比利时政府去年10月同意以现金加股票的方式作价200亿美元将富通旗下比利时银行和保险部门出售给法国巴黎银行，但这一交易计划目前看来有可能宣告破裂。法国巴黎银行表示，如果股东周三投票否决这一交易，他们会随之放弃交易计划。中国平安持有富通5%的股权，是富通最大的单一股东。该公司周日发表声明称，比利时政府不但摧毁了富通的价值，还严重地损害了富通股东的整体利益。富通股东们认为，比利时政府去年10月达成的出售协议不符合他们的利益；协议对富通估值为每股1欧元（合1.29美元），而上年同期富通股价还高达14欧元。一个股东组织去年12月就此提起诉讼，比利时一家法院随后判决周三进行股东投票，裁定政府应当给股东发言权。判决宣布后不久，比利时首相莱特姆(Yves Leterme)宣布辞职，他涉嫌在该案件中试图干预司法。为赢得股东支持，比利时政府上个月修改了交易协议，实际上给了股东待售资产25%的股份，同时减少了他们在富通帐面上问题资产的风险敞口。但这还不足以打动一些散户股东，他们总计持有富通四分之一的股份。代表一个小股东组织的律师摩德里卡曼(Mischael Modrikamen)表示，我的当事人仍然受到了欺骗。比利时政府表现得就象一个“香蕉共和国”。比利时政府一直在争取持有富通75%股份的退休基金和其他机构投资者的支持，以推进这笔交易。但持有富通5%股权的中国平安是其中最大的机构投资者，该公司可能会在周三的投票中产生重大影响。比利时政府预计，周三出席投票的股东可能持有富通公司大约30%的股份。共同基金AllianceBernstein LP和挪威央行分别持有富通公司3%和0.7%的股份，两家机构发言人均拒绝发表评论。一年多之前，当信贷危机开始冲击西方银行股价时，中国投资者向富通英国巴克莱(Barclays PLC)美国摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)和私人资本运营基金百仕通集团(Blackstone Group)等金融机构先后投资了数十亿美元。这些现金注资得到了西方金融机构的欢迎，因为此类投资几乎没有附加条件，帮助它们进行了资产重组。此后，中国投资者就目睹了他们投资的剧烈缩水。中国主权财富基金中国投资有限责任公司目前正付诸法律手段，希望收回此前投资First Reserve旗下一只基金的50多亿美元。中投公司此前还与百仕通集团达成了协议，在公开市场上购入后者股份，将持股比例增加到12.5%，并对这部分股份享有完全股东权利。中国平安此前向富通投资了大约28亿美元，这笔投资的目的是达成战略合作伙伴关系。两家公司曾计划就诸多项目进行合作，包括组建一个资产管理合资公司，但后来未见下文。根据投资协议，中国平安获得了富通公司一个董事会席位，但中国平安总经理张子欣上周辞去了这一董事职位。分析人士和管理人士表示，如果股东投票否决交易，可能会出现三种情况。法国巴黎银行可能会放弃毁约金宣告退出，留下比利时政府控股富通。法国巴黎银行一位发言人表示，如果股东投票赞成，那我们会迅速推进交易。但如果股票投票反对，我们也会尊重他们的决定，宣布退出。第二种可能性是比利时政府再度上调对股东们的优惠条件。分析人士称，第三种可能性就是比利时政府将此事交给法院，迫使交易获得通过。比利时政府负责此事的代表科恩(Luc Coene)表示，我们仍在努力争取股东们的全力支持。如果他们投票否决，情况将陷入混乱。John W. Miller / Rick Carew 相关阅读中国平安或逐渐淡出富通集团 2009-02-03中国平安求助中国政府向富通集团索赔 2008-11-28中国平安考虑起诉富通集团 2008-11-18 本文涉及股票或公司document.write (truthmeter('2009年02月09日09:27', '601318.SH'));中国平安保险（集团）股份有限公司（简称：中国平安）英文名称：Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd.总部地点：中国大陆上市地点：上海证交所股票代码：601318document.write (truthmeter('2009年02月09日09:27', '2318.HK'));中国平安保险(集团)股份有限公司（简称：中国平安）英文名称：Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd.总部地点：中国大陆上市地点：香港交易所股票代码：2318document.write (truthmeter('2009年02月09日09:27', 'AXA'));AXA S.A. (ADS)总部地点：法国上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：AXAdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年02月09日09:27', 'FORB.BT'));Fortis B N.v.总部地点：比利时(Belgium)上市地点：BRUX股票代码：FORdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年02月09日09:27', '12062.FR'));Axa S.a.总部地点：法国上市地点：PARB股票代码：AXAFdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年02月09日09:27', '13110.FR'));法国巴黎银行英文名称：BNP Paribas S.A.总部地点：法国上市地点：PARB股票代码：BNPPdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年02月09日09:27', 'BNPQY'));BNP Paribas S.A. (ADS)总部地点：法国上市地点：美国场外交易粉单市场(Pink Sheet)股票代码：BNPQYdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年02月09日09:27', 'FORSY'));Fortis (NL) N.V. (ADS)总部地点：荷兰(Netherlands)上市地点：美国场外交易粉单市场(Pink Sheet)股票代码：FORSY


Belgium is scrambling to secure the planned sale of troubled banking group Fortis NV to BNP Paribas SA just days ahead of a shareholder vote, after China's Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. said Sunday that it will vote to block the deal.The Chinese insurer's decision is a blow to the Belgian government's plans and the latest sign of growing activism by Chinese investors who took stakes in Western banks last year that have since turned sour.The fate of Fortis, a cross-border banking and insurance company that was bailed out by Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands last fall, has already cost a Belgian prime minister his job.Now the government's October agreement to sell the bank's Belgian banking and insurance divisions to BNP Paribas for $20 billion in cash and shares looks in danger of falling apart. The French bank says it will walk away if shareholders oppose the sale when they vote Wednesday.Ping An, Fortis's biggest single shareholder with a 5% stake, said in a statement Sunday that Belgium's government has 'not only destroyed Fortis' value, but [has] also severely impaired Fortis shareholders' interests as a whole.'Shareholders have argued that the government's October deal with Paribas, which valued Fortis shares at 1 euro ($1.29), down from 14 euros a year earlier, wasn't in their interests. A group of shareholders sued and in December, a Belgian court ordered a shareholder vote for Wednesday, ruling that the government should have given shareholders a say. Prime Minister Yves Leterme resigned soon after the ruling, accused of trying to sway the judge in the case.Last month, the government sweetened the deal, effectively giving shareholders a 25% stake in the assets to be sold to Paribas, as well as less exposure to toxic assets still on the books. But that wasn't enough for some retail shareholders, who collectively own a quarter of Fortis shares.'My clients are still getting cheated,' says Mischael Modrikamen, a lawyer for one of many groups of small shareholders. 'The government's behaving like a banana republic.'The government has been counting on the support of pension funds and other institutions that hold 75% of Fortis shares to push the deal through. But Ping An is the biggest of those institutional shareholders, and its 5% stake could have a big impact Wednesday, when the government expects shareholders representing about 30% of Fortis stock to show up for the vote.Spokespeople for AllianceBernstein LP, a mutual fund that owns 3% of Fortis, and the central bank of Norway, which holds 0.7%, declined to comment.When the credit crisis began to take a toll on the share prices of Western banks more than a year ago, Chinese investors invested billions of dollars in institutions such as Fortis, Barclays PLC in Britain, and Morgan Stanley and private-equity fund Blackstone Group LP in the U.S. Western institutions welcomed their cash, which came with few strings attached and helped them to recapitalize.Chinese investors have since seen the value of the stakes plunge. China Investment Corp., China's sovereign-wealth fund, is pursuing legal recourse against First Reserve to recoup more than $5 billion it invested in one of its funds. China Investment also signed an agreement with Blackstone Group, allowing the Chinese fund to increase its stake to 12.5% and exercise full shareholder rights over shares purchased on the open market.Ping An's roughly $2.8 billion investment in Fortis was intended to be a strategic partnership. The two companies were supposed to cooperate on projects, including an asset-management joint venture that has since been dropped. The agreement gave Ping An a board seat, which Ping An President Louis Cheung resigned last week.There are three possibilities if shareholders vote down the deal, say analysts and officials. BNP Paribas could withdraw without penalties, leaving the government in control of Fortis. 'If it's a yes, we'll move quickly. If it's a no, we will respect their decision and walk away,' said a spokesman for BNP Paribas.A second option would be for the government to again increase the payoff to shareholders. A third scenario, say analysts, is that the government could do battle in the courts to force the sale through.'We're still trying to win the hearts and minds of the shareholders,' says Luc Coene, the government's representative in this issue. 'If they reject, the situation falls into chaos.'John W. Miller / Rick Carew