China has imposed significant conditions to clear Marubeni’s $5bn takeover of US-based grain trader Gavilon, in a new show of how Beijing’s antitrust regulators are flexing their muscle reviewing global deals. 中国已对日本贸易商社丸红(Marubeni) 50亿美元收购美国谷物交易商高鸿(Gavilon)的交易附加重大限制性条件，再次显示中国反垄断监管机构正运用自己的强大实力来审核全球交易。

Chinese antitrust authorities have rarely intervened in mergers and acquisitions in the past. But the ministry of commerce, or Mofcom, has taken a far more intrusive role recently, including imposing last week far-reaching conditions to approve Glencore’s $65bn takeover of mining group Xstrata. 中国反垄断主管部门以往极少干预并购交易。但中国商务部(Mofcom)近来扮演更具干预性的角色，包括上周对嘉能可(Glencore) 650亿美元收购矿业集团超达(Xstrata)的交易附加广泛的限制性条件。

Marubeni, one of Japan’s leading trading houses, or sogo shosha, initially announced last May the purchase of Gavilon, owned by hedge funds including Ospraie Management, lead by Dwight Anderson, and Soros Fund Management. The Japanese company aimed to close the deal by September, but the lengthy review by Chinese regulators delayed it until now. 丸红是日本领先的贸易商社——或称综合商社(sogo shosha)——之一，该公司在去年5月宣布收购高鸿公司，后者目前由一些对冲基金拥有，包括德怀特•安德森(Dwight Anderson)领导的Ospraie Management以及索罗斯基金管理公司(Soros Fund Management)。这家日本公司本来打算最迟在去年9月敲定交易，但中国监管者的漫长审核使其拖延至今。

Mofcom yesterday said that it had approved the deal subject to significant conditions in the Chinese soyabean market, including that Marubeni and Gavilon continue selling soya to China as separate companies, with two different teams and with firewalls between them blocking the exchange of market intelligence. 中国商务部昨日宣布，决定附加限制性条件批准这笔交易。这些条件包括，丸红和高鸿继续作为独立实体向中国销售大豆，组建两支独立的运营团队，并在两者之间设置防火墙，确保双方不会交换市场情报。

“At present, China is highly dependent on soyabean imports, domestic soyabean crushers concentration is low . . . and bargaining power is weak,” Mofcom said on its Chinese web page. “This concentration of business operators may further weaken the bargaining power of the [Chinese] soyabean crushers.” “目前，中国大豆高度依赖进口，国内大豆压榨企业集中度低……议价能力较弱，”商务部在其中文官网上表示。“此项经营者集中可能进一步削弱下游（中国）大豆压榨企业的议价能力。”

China is the world’s largest soyabean importer, accounting for more than 60 per cent of global trade. Marubeni last year was the largest soya supplier to China, exporting 10.5m tonnes of the 58.4m tonnes the country bought overseas. 中国是全球最大的大豆进口国，占全球贸易总量的60%。去年丸红是中国的最大大豆供应商，在中国向海外采购的5840万吨大豆中占了1050万吨。

Mofcom did not impose conditions in corn, wheat or any other food commodity. Marubeni bet with the acquisition of Omaha-based Gavilon that China would become a long-term importer of corn, in the process reshaping the global agricultural market. 商务部没有对玉米、小麦或其它任何粮食类大宗商品的贸易附加条件。丸红收购总部位于内布拉斯加州奥马哈的高鸿公司，本意就是押注中国将成为玉米的长期进口国，在此过程中重塑全球农业市场。

Antitrust lawyers believe that in the case of Marubeni-Gavilon and Glencore-Xstrata the main issue for Beijing was not in reality market concentration, but access to key commodities. 反垄断律师相信，就丸红-高鸿和嘉能可-超达交易而言，对北京方面来说，主要问题其实并不是市场集中，而是保障关键大宗商品的供应渠道。

Glencore and Marubeni are significant suppliers to China, but their market share in key commodities such as copper for Glencore and soyabean for Marubeni is well below the 30-35 per cent threshold that European antitrust authorities usually use as a benchmark to decide whether to intervene in deals. The conditions set by China should allow the deal to close in the next few weeks. Gavilon declined to comment yesterday while Marubeni could not be reached outside regular business hours in Tokyo. 嘉能可和丸红都是中国的大型供应商，但他们在关键大宗商品市场所占份额（比如嘉能可在铜市场和丸红在大豆市场）均远低于30%-35%的门槛，欧洲反垄断当局通常采用这个门槛来决定是否干预交易。中国附加的条件应当使这笔交易能够在未来几周内敲定。高鸿公司昨日拒绝置评，而记者在东京正常上班时间以外联系不上丸红请其置评。

Marubeni may be forced to pay much more than it first anticipated in local currency, as the yen has weakened more than 25 per cent against the US dollar since the deal was first announced in May. 以日元计算，丸红可能被迫支付远高于其最初预期的收购金额，因为自这笔交易在去年5月宣布以来，日元兑美元汇率已下跌逾25%。

Rival commodities executives believe that Marubeni did not hedge its exposure to the currency market. 大宗商品行业竞争对手的高管相信，丸红并未对冲其在汇市的敞口。