一直以向中国国有企业提供巨额贷款而为人所知的中国国家开发银行(China Development Bank,
简称:国开行)如今开始走商业路线。
近几个月,中国国有控股的国开行一直在参与亚洲一些规模最大的私营领域交易,向电子商务公司阿里巴巴集团(Alibaba
Group Holding Ltd.)、香港交易及结算所有限公司(Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing
Ltd.)和印度尼西亚的PT Bumi
Resources提供贷款。
国开行创立于1994年,目前总资产逾9,800亿美元。该行突然出手从一些最大的全球竞争对手那里抢走业务,加剧了亚洲市场的竞争。在亚洲,中资银行已经在首次公开募股(IPO)这一颇为有利可图的市场偷偷夺取业务。
国开行扩大贷款业务之际,正值一些西方银行迫于增强资产状况的压力而开始减少放贷,特别是长期贷款的发放。
经纪商Sanford
C. Bernstein (Hong Kong) Ltd.的高级股市分析师沃纳(Mike
Werner)说:国开行开始努力以商业贷款业务作为驱动,我们已经看到他们从传统的政策性放贷转向私募股权等领域。这是合情合理的,因为国开行有便宜的资金。
国开行是中国三大政策性银行之一,另外两家是中国农业发展银行(Agricultural
Development Bank of China)和中国进出口银行(Export-Import Bank of
China)。后两家银行通常为地方政府基础设施项目提供资金,这两家银行都没有偏离其传统角色。
近几个月,阿里巴巴曾两次从国开行获得贷款。6月份,阿里巴巴曾争取从19家银行获得20亿美元的过渡性贷款,其中包括澳新银行(Australia
& New Zealand Banking Group Ltd.)、巴克莱(Barclays)和Natixis
SA,以便用于全盘收购旗下贸易子公司的股权(规模23亿美元)。
据知情人士透露,阿里巴巴取消了过渡性贷款,而是从国开行贷款10亿美元。最初提供过渡性贷款的那些银行收取了原定费用的25%,过渡性贷款从未动用。
然后是在7月份,国开行向阿里巴巴提供了10亿美元的四年期贷款,这次是用于从雅虎(Yahoo
Inc.)手中回购其所持阿里巴巴40%股权中的至多一半。
阿里巴巴不予置评。国开行没有回复记者的置评请求。
银行家们说,尽管国开行的贷款利率并不比竞争对手低,但它愿意提供大额长期贷款。对于规模超过10亿美元的贷款,大部分商业银行会以银团贷款的形式联合提供,这样它们就不会过多地暴露在单一客户可能带来的风险中。在资本限制更加严格的当下,这一情况尤为突出。银团贷款是放贷机构组成的银团向单一借款人提供的贷款。
国开行的存款基数并不大,而是通过出售政府支持债券来筹措贷款资金。国开行是中国国内仅次于财政部的最大债券发行人,同时也是离岸人民币债券市场上仅次于中国政府的最大发行人。
如果投资者认为国开行发行的债券风险增大,那么该行的商业化努力就会面临风险。Sanford
Bernstein分析师沃纳说,如果国开行转变为完全成熟的商业银行,那么它的风险状况就会加剧,融资成本也会大幅提高,从而让国开行的盈利一夜间降低。
香港交易所前不久从国开行那里筹措到了18亿美元贷款。其他知情人士说,香港交易所可能会用这笔贷款取代德意志银行(Deutsche
Bank AG)、汇丰控股(HSBC Holdings)和瑞士银行(UBS
AG)向其提供的8.6亿美元过渡性贷款。香港交易所目前正以21.5亿美元的价格收购伦敦金属交易所(London Metal
Exchange)。收购完成后,这家股票型交易所即可涉足大宗商品交易。
今年2月,国开行向印尼PT Bumi
Resources提供了一笔6亿美元的四年期贷款,贷款利率为伦敦银行同业拆息(Libor)加6.7个百分点。该煤炭企业通过这笔贷款对从巴克莱、美银美林(Bank
of America Merrill Lynch)和摩根大通(J.P. Morgan
Chase)获得的短期贷款进行再融资,这笔短期贷款的利率是Libor加6个百分点。
国开行为中国财政部、中央汇金投资有限责任公司(Central
Huijin Investment Ltd.)和中国政府社保基金所共同拥有。其中,中央汇金为中国主权财富基金中国投资有限责任公司(Investment
Corp.)所控股。
国开行的转型从2008年开始,当时它经过重组成为一家商业银行。此后,该银行增设了租赁业务,成立了证券子公司,还在香港设立了分支机构,这是国开行在内地以外设立的首家分支机构。另外,国开行还进军私募股权业务,去年12月与私募股权投资公司Permira,
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts &
Co.和TPG签订了协议,寻求共同投资的机会。
不过,国开行在外界看来仍是一家政策银行,也没有像其它大型中资银行那样公开发行股票。虽然该行保持着良好的利润增长势头,但相比其它中资银行仍显落后。
一项比较有代表性的交易是,三年前国开行向巴西国有石油公司Petroleo
Brasileiro
SA提供了100亿美元的10年期贷款。作为交换,巴西同意向中国每日提供原油15万桶。另外,国开行以前也为收购交易提供过融资,但那些都是国企收购。2009年,中国铝业股份有限公司(Aluminum
Corp. of China)以140亿美元收购力拓股份有限公司(Rio Tinto)9%的股份,国开行就曾为前者安排融资。
China Development Bank, known for making big loans to Chinese state-owned
companies, is going commercial.
In recent months, state-controlled China
Development Bank has stepped into some of the biggest private deals in Asia,
lending money to e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Hong Kong
Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. and Indonesia's PT Bumi Resources BUMI.JK -12.16%
.
The bank, which was established in 1994 and has total assets of more
than $980 billion, swooped in to take business away from some of its biggest
global rivals, adding to the competition in Asia, where Chinese banks already
have been stealing business in the lucrative market for initial public
offerings.
China Development Bank is stepping up at a time when some
Western banks, under pressure to strengthen their balance sheets, are cutting
back on lending, especially in long-term loans.
'CDB is trying to become
commercially motivated,' said Mike Werner, senior equity analyst at Sanford C.
Bernstein (Hong Kong) Ltd. 'We have already seen them moving away from its
traditional policy lending to areas such as private equity. It makes sense, as
CDB has cheap funding.'
The lender is one of China's three policy banks
along with Agricultural Development Bank of China and the Export-Import Bank of
China, which typically finance local government infrastructure projects. Neither
of these banks have strayed from their traditional roles.
Alibaba turned
to the bank twice in recent months. In June, Alibaba was seeking a $2 billion
bridge loan from 19 banks, including Australia & New Zealand Banking Group
Ltd., Barclays BARC.LN -1.65% PLC and Natixis SA KN.FR -0.51% to finance the
buyout of its trading unit for $2.3 billion.
Alibaba canceled the bridge
loan and instead borrowed $1 billion from China Development Bank, according to
people familiar with the deal. The banks that offered the original bridge loan,
which was never drawn, received 25% of their original fee.
Then in July,
the bank made a $1 billion four-year loan to Alibaba, in this case to fund the
buyout of up to half of Yahoo Inc.'s 40% stake in the company.
Alibaba
declined to comment. China Development Bank didn't reply to a request for
comment.
While the bank isn't charging lower interest rates than its
competitors, it is willing to offer long-term loans for large amounts, say
bankers. Most commercial banks syndicate loans of more than $1 billion so that
they aren't too heavily exposed to a single client. That is especially true now
with tougher capital restrictions in place. A syndicated loan is offered by a
group of lenders that provide funds to a single borrower.
The bank
doesn't have a large deposit base and instead sells government-backed bonds to
fund its loans. The bank is China's biggest bond issuer after the Ministry of
Finance and is also the biggest issuer in the offshore yuan-denominated bond
market after the Chinese government.
One risk to its efforts could occur
if investors decide its bonds have become riskier. 'If CDB were to turn into a
fully fledged commercial bank, its risk profile would increase and its funding
costs would rise significantly. That would make CDB less profitable overnight,'
Sanford Bernstein's Mr. Werner said.
Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing
turned to the bank for a $1.8 billion loan recently, which will likely replace
an $860 million bridge loan from Deutsche Bank AG, DBK.XE -2.31% HSBC Holdings
HSBA.LN -1.16% PLC and UBS AG, UBS -0.54% other people familiar with the deal
said. The exchange operator is buying London Metal Exchange for $2.15 billion in
a move that would give the stock-focused exchange instant entry into commodities
trading.
In February, the bank made a $600 million four-year loan to
Indonesia's PT Bumi Resources, charging 6.7 percentage points over the London
interbank offered rate, or Libor The loan enabled the coal producer to refinance
a short-term loan from Barclays, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and J.P. Morgan
Chase with an interest rate that was six percentage points over
Libor.
China Development Bank is owned by China's Ministry of Finance,
Central Huijin Investment Ltd., which is in turn controlled by Chinese
sovereign-wealth fund China Investment Corp., and the government's social
security fund.
China Development Bank's shift began in 2008 when it was
restructured into a commercial bank. Since then, it has added leasing operations
and a securities unit and opened a Hong Kong branch, its first outside of China.
It also entered into the private-equity business, signing agreements in December
with private-equity firms Permira, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and TPG to
seek opportunities for co-investing.
However, the bank is still regarded
as a policy bank and it hasn't sold shares to the public like other big Chinese
lenders. While it has had healthy profit growth, it has lagged behind other
Chinese banks.
A more typical deal is the $10 billion, 10-year loan it
gave to Brazilian state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA three years ago.
In exchange, Brazil agreed to supply 150,000 barrels a day of crude oil to
China. The bank has financed acquisitions before but by state-owned firms. In
2009, it was instrumental in arranging funding for Aluminum Corp. of China when
it bought a 9% stake in 2009 in Rio Tinto for $14 billion.