Wireless-operator Sprint Nextel Corp., pork-producer Smithfield Foods Inc. and now whiskey-maker Beam Inc. are falling into Asian hands.
无线运营商Sprint Nextel Corp.和猪肉加工商Smithfield Foods Inc.都被亚洲企业收购，现在威士忌酒厂Beam Inc.也将落入亚洲企业的手中。
Such multibillion-dollar purchases of U.S. companies by Asian corporations hadn't been seen since before the 2008-'09 financial crisis, when drug maker Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. was purchased by Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.
从2008年至2009年金融危机前美国药企Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc.被日本武田药品工业株式会社(Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.)收购以来，还没出现过亚洲企业动用上百亿美元收购美国公司的交易。
But the past year's deals have been bigger than ever, and the targets are well-known U.S. brands. And unlike a spate of purchases in the 1980s, when Japanese electronics company Sony Corp. took on Hollywood by purchasing Columbia Pictures Entertainment Inc., Asian buyers have avoided touchy areas and thus, a backlash from American consumers.
但去年的交易规模比以往都大，而收购目标都是知名的美国品牌。上世纪80年代掀起过一股收购美国企业的浪潮，比如日本电子企业索尼公司(Sony Corp.)就曾通过收购哥伦比亚电影公司(Columbia Pictures Entertainment Inc.)来进入好莱坞(Hollywood)。现在与之不同，亚洲买家会避开敏感行业，因此也就不会受到美国消费者的强烈抵制。
'We have not seen such a strong phenomenon of Asian firms buying U.S. brands before. I believe we will see more multibillion-dollar outbound M&As by Asian companies this year,' said Lian Lian, a co-head of North Asia mergers and acquisitions at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. The sluggishness of the global economic recovery may 'encourage Western firms to rationalize value expectations' and sell assets, she said.
摩根大通公司(J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.)负责北亚并购业务的联席主管Lian Lian说，我们以前从未见过如此热闹的亚洲企业收购美国品牌的景象，我觉得今年亚洲企业将在海外进行更多大手笔的并购。她说，全球经济复苏乏力可能会促使西方企业出售资产并合理调整其价值预期。
Japan's Suntory Holdings Ltd. said Monday it would buy Beam for $13.6 billion -- less than a year after SoftBank Corp. purchased Sprint for $21.6 billion. The deals are part of a drive by Japanese companies -- struggling with an aging population and slow growth at home -- to strengthen their offerings and boost their popularity overseas. In the SoftBank deal, Sprint received cash to help it compete with bigger rivals in the U.S., one of the world's most lucrative markets for smartphones.
日本三得利控股公司(Suntory Holdings Ltd.)周一说，将以136亿美元收购Beam。此时距离软银(SoftBank Corp.)以216亿美元收购Sprint还不到一年时间。在日本人口老龄化和经济增长放缓的背景下，这类收购交易是日本企业强化业务、提高海外人气的行动之一。在软银收购交易中，Sprint收到的是现金，这有助于它和美国更强大的对手展开竞争。美国是世界上利润最丰厚的智能手机市场之一。
'In some ways, Suntory going for Beam is not a surprise,' said Jeremy Cunnington, an analyst at Euromonitor International in London. 'The company, along with its fellow Japanese companies, has been looking to diversify away from its moribund markets. And undoubtedly, Beam's array of international brands would make it a truly global spirits player.' The deal will vault Suntory to the world's sixth-largest spirits company by volume from 25th, Mr. Cunnington said.
欧睿信息咨询(Euromonitor International)驻伦敦的分析师坎宁顿(Jeremy Cunnington)表示，从某种程度上说，三得利收购Beam并不出人意料；与其它日本公司一样，三得利也一直在找机会摆脱死气沉沉的市场，以期实现多元化，而Beam拥有多个国际品牌，这无疑会让三得利在全球烈酒行业成为举重若轻的一员。坎宁顿说，这桩交易完成后，三得利在全球烈酒销量排行榜上将从第25名跃升至第6名。
While Japanese companies have been pushing to gain access to overseas markets, their Chinese counterparts have been making purchases to bring brands home.
日本企业在努力争取进入海外市场的机会，而中国公司则在忙着通过收购把国外品牌引入中国。
Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd. last year bought Smithfield Foods for $4.7 billion, the largest purchase by a Chinese company of a U.S. one. Shuanghui's purchase gave it a well-respected brand that Shuanghui can take home to China -- the world's largest pork consumer -- as food scandals and increasing urbanization drive demand for a safe, secure food supply.
双汇国际控股有限公司(Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd.)去年以47亿美元买下了Smithfield Foods，成为中资企业收购美国资产的最大单。这笔交易让双汇有了一个可带回全球最大猪肉消费国的受人尊敬的品牌。在中国，受食品丑闻和城市化发展影响，百姓越来越需要有保障的安全食品供应。
Shuanghui's deal stood in contrast to a 2005 attempt by oil company Cnooc Ltd. to buy Unocal Corp. for $18.5 billion, which was thwarted by fears for U.S. national security.
双汇收购交易与2005年中国海洋石油有限公司(Cnooc Ltd.)试图以185亿美元收购加州联合石油公司(Unocal Corp.)形成对比。由于美国对国家安全的顾虑，这宗油企并购交易未能进行。
Asian companies bought $260 billion in U.S. assets in the five years since 2009, above the $206 billion purchased in the previous five years, according to Dealogic.
据Dealogic统计，2009年以来的这五年里，亚洲公司共收购了2,600亿美元的美国资产，超过此前五年的2,060亿美元。
The SoftBank and Suntory acquisitions are bigger than the Asian -- primarily Japanese -- acquisitions of U.S. assets made in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
软银和三得利的收购规模超过了上世纪90年代末和本世纪初亚洲（主要是日本）公司对美国资产的收购规模。
Until the SoftBank deal, the biggest Asian purchase of a U.S. asset was Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp.'s $9.8 billion acquisition of a 16% stake in AT&T Wireless Group Inc. in 2000. Excluding financial services, the next-biggest Asian purchase of a U.S. company was Takeda's $8.1 billion purchase of Millennium in 2008, trailed by Japan Tobacco Inc.'s $7.8 billion purchase in 1999 of the international tobacco operations of RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. The SoftBank deal still would be the biggest after adjusting for inflation.
在软银收购完成前，亚洲收购美国资产的最大单是日本电信电话(Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp.) 2000年以98亿美元收购AT&T Wireless Group Inc. 16%的股份。若不算金融服务业，亚洲企业收购美国公司的第二大单是2008年武田药品工业以81亿美元收购Millennium，第三大单是1999年日本烟草(Japan Tobacco Inc.)以78亿美元收购RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp.国际烟草业务。现在软银的收购交易成为了亚洲企业收购美国公司的最大单，经通胀因素调整后也是如此。