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A famed US activist investor is taking on one of Japan’s most obsessive companies in what promises to be an epic clash of cultures across the Pacific.
美国知名的激进投资者丹尼尔•勒布(Daniel Loeb)瞄准了日本最专注的企业之一——机器人公司发那科(Fanuc)。
According to its quarterly letter to investors, Third Point — the hedge fund run by Daniel Loeb — has bought into Fanuc, the world’s largest robotics company, and is urging it to conduct a share buyback.
根据勒布管理的对冲基金Third Point写给投资者的季度信，这家基金已入股全球最大机器人公司发那科，并敦促后者回购股票。
The purchase highlights renewed investor interest in Japan as massive monetary stimulus drives stocks higher, the government prepares a new corporate governance code, and return on equity finally catches on as a management goal.
此次购股突显出投资者重新燃起对日本的兴趣。日本推出的大规模货币刺激正推升股价，同时日本政府正制定新的公司治理规则，且股本回报率终于被认可为一项管理目标。
But it also is reminiscent of numerous bitter and destructive clashes between Japanese corporations and foreign investors, from the saga of Steel Partners and Bull-Dog Sauce a decade ago, to The Children’s Investment Fund and its run at electricity wholesaler J-Power in 2008.
但这也让人回忆起日本企业与外国投资者之间众多痛苦且具有破坏性的冲突，从10年前Steel Partners收购牛头犬调味品公司(Bull-Dog Sauce)的风波，到儿童投资基金(The Children’s Investment Fund)2008年在增持日本电源开发公司(J-Power)股权的故事。
“Fanuc’s productivity is amongst the highest in the world, on track to achieve $2.4bn of operating profit and 40 per cent margins. . .with just 5,500 employees,” said Third Point. But it added: “There is a reason that Fanuc remains cheap at 13 times earnings: the company’s illogical capital structure which does nothing for shareholder value.”
Third Point表示：“发那科的生产率位于全球最高之列，营运利润有望达到24亿美元，利润率为40%……只有5500名员工...... 但发那科的市盈率仍很廉价（13倍），原因是该公司不合理的资本结构对提升股东价值毫无帮助。”
Third Point is known for its aggressive campaigns to shake up target companies — famously engineering the installation of Marissa Mayer as chief executive of Yahoo — and there is a gulf between its financial world on New York’s Park Avenue and the secretive, yellow-clad engineers of Fanuc.
Third Point以大规模改组目标公司出名——一个著名例子是安排玛丽莎•梅耶尔(Marissa Mayer)担任雅虎(Yahoo)首席执行官。然而，纽约公园大道的金融界与发那科行事隐秘、穿着黄色衣服的工程师之间，存在巨大差异。
Fanuc has grown to become Japan’s 10th-largest company by market capitalisation, dominating the global market for factory robots from its base near Mount Fuji. It is known for an ultra-focused corporate culture, ruled until recently by founder Seiuemon Inaba, that rejects all distractions from its core robotics business.
以市值衡量，发那科已成长为日本第十大企业，从位于富士山附近的基地统治着全球工业机器人市场。该公司以超级专注的企业文化知名，拒绝除核心机器人业务以外的所有其他业务。直到最近，该公司一直由其创始人稻叶清右卫门(Seiuemon Inaba)管理。
In its letter, Third Point pays tribute to Fanuc, saying the company “reminds us of Apple in its product approach”. It suggests Fanuc’s robotics sales will double in a few years, given the broader range of industries now being automated, the low density of robot use in China, and the Japanese company’s market dominance.
在写给投资者的这封信中，Third Point赞扬发那科称，该公司“的产品战略让我们想起了苹果(Apple)”。信中称，鉴于更多的行业实现了自动化、中国的机器人使用量仍然偏低、且发那科占据着市场主导地位，未来几年，发那科的机器人销量将翻一番。
