China Buyers Challenged Abroad

choi

Julie Steinberg and Ben Dummett, 中国公司海外并购遭遇逆风. 华尔街日报, Sept 11, 2017
http://cn.wsj.com/gb/20170911/biz142305.asp

, which is translated from

Julie Steinberg and Ben Dummett, China Buyers Challenged Abroad; Merger activity slows as some sellers grow wary of deals with mainland companies. Wall Street Journal, Sept 11, 2017.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/chi ... -hurdles-1505048031

Quote:

(a) "These days, simply being Chinese can be a disadvantage in some deal negotiations.

"Earlier this summer, Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group, China's largest dairy company, bid more than $900 million for Stonyfield Farm Inc, a Londonderry, NH, yogurt maker, according to people familiar with the matter.

"Stonyfield's owner, European packaged-food giant Dannon SA, instead sold the business for $875 million to French dairy company Lactalis, which won in part because Dannon and its advisers felt there was too much regulatory uncertainty associated with a Chinese buyer, people familiar with the matter said.

"Dannon was under pressure from the US Justice Department to get rid of Stonyfield quickly as a condition a separate acquisition it had made [of US organic food producer WhiteWave Foods].

"In Japan, Toshiba * * * Initially spurned a high [] bid from Hon Hai Precision Industry Co -- better known as Foxconn Technology Group -- after Japanese government officials expressed concerns about the risk of Toshibav chip technology being leaked to China, where Taiwan-headquartered Foxconn has vast electronics manufacturing operations.

"The deal talks [with Foxconn] aren't dead, however, and Toshiba is still weighing multiple offers, including one from Foxconn.  

(b) China-US merger and acquisition activity has fallen more precipitously. There have been 86 announced Chinese deals in the US so far this year worth $9.9 billion, down from 118 deals worth $33 billion in the same period last year [see the graphic, which appears in print and online].  One reason is [CFIUS has been toughening its scrutiny]

Note:
(a) There is no need to read the rest.
(b) The subtitle of the translation (in cn.wsj.com) is: 在美国、欧洲甚至日本，中资跨境收购面临的政治、监管和其他障碍越来越多，中国公司收购和投资境外业务的难度越来越大。
(c) Stonyfield Farm (an organic yogurt maker; founded by Samuel Kaymen in 1983, on a 19th-century farmstead; in 2003 mostly sold to Dannon, which then owned about 85% of Stonyfield shares")  Wikipedia.org
(d)
(i) Brief History. In About Us, Dean Foods Co, undated.
http://www.deanfoods.com/our-company/about-us/brief-history.aspx

Three consecutive paragraphs:

"2002: Dean Foods acquires Boulder, Colo-based White Wave, Inc, maker of Silk®, the nation's leading refrigerated soymilk. [So you now know where the company WhiteWave name comes from.]

"2004: Dean Foods acquires Horizon Organic Holding Corporation, maker of a full line of organic milk and dairy products.

"2004: Dean Foods consolidates Silk, Horizon Organic® and other branded businesses as WhiteWave Foods Company, headquartered in Broomfield, Colo.

* Dean Foods spun off WhiteWave Foods Co in 2012, which Dannon acquired in 2017 and changed name to DannonWave.
(ii) Denver Post (newspaper): "Steve Demos * * * took out a $500 loan and in 1977 started White Wave Inc [in Boulder, CO], a vegetarian-food company specializing in tofu products."
(iii) City and County of Broomfield (which likely got its name from 'broomcorn [ie, sorghum] grown in the area': Wikipedia) is northwest of Denver, both of which are mile high in elevation. The air/flying distance between the two they are not contiguous) is 17 miles or 27 km.