中国金属破产重组案考验中国破产法(Deal Struck In China On Bankruptcy Test Case)

　　据知情人士透露，债权人已经就如何重组破产的中国金属（FerroChina）达成了协议，目前正在等待中国一家法庭的批准。很多海外投资者认为，这是对中国2007年破产法的一大考验。

　　中国金属的债权人包括了花旗集团（Citigroup）、瑞士信贷（Credit Suisse）、里昂证券亚太恒富资本（CLSA Capital Partners）以及美国对冲基金Citadel Investment Group.

　　五矿集团位于北京的总部知情人士透露，根据重组协议，中国五矿集团公司将出价人民币32亿元（约合4.685亿美元）从中国金属收购5家运营子公司。一些外国债权人将获得60%的赔偿。

　　其他外国债权人则一无所获。举例来说，重组协议完全没有涉及持有中国金属1.3亿美元未偿付债券的海外投资者。

　　不过，一些海外投资者认为，鉴于他们已经被忽略了将近一年时间，如果法庭批准这一协议，那也是一个令人满意的结果。

　　安理国际律师事务所（Allen & Overy）的企业重组专家基德（David Kidd）表示，尽管这份协议没有分离出更多价值，令人有所失望，但这也是一个合理的结果了。安理国际没有参与中国金属的重组协议。

　　中国金属和中国五矿集团没有回复记者的置评消息。中国金属的海外债权人能否收回资金取决于债券是否有本地资产担保或是有海外实体持有的抵押品担保。2006年，以花旗集团为首的一个投资者财团向中国金属提供了1.6亿美元贷款，这笔贷款包括了本地支持债券以及海外债券。

　　据知情人士透露，根据重组协议，本地债券有担保部分的投资者将收回将近60%的资金，而无担保部分的投资者将接受更大的折扣，只能获得债券票面价值的约20%.这笔贷款中的大约7，500万美元是海外债券，并不包括在重组协议中。

　　这些人士表示，重组协议是公平的，因为海外投资者在本地债券中获得的折扣和持有中国金属债券的内地商业银行所接受的条件是一样的。

　　在另外一起受到密切关注的中国企业破产重组案中，亚洲铝业控股有限公司的海外债权人只收回了1%的资金，但亚洲铝业却通过将公司出售给现有的管理层获得现金，对本地债权人进行了全额赔付。

　　Creditors have come to an agreement about how to wind up FerroChina Ltd. and are awaiting approval by a mainland China court， said people familiar with the agreement， in a decision that many foreign investors view as a significant test of China's 2007 bankruptcy law.

　　Creditors of the Chinese steel company include Citigroup Inc.， Credit Suisse Group， CLSA Capital Partners and U.S. hedge fund Citadel Investment Group LLC.

　　Under the restructuring agreement， the people say， China Minmetals Corp. will acquire five operating subsidiaries of the galvanized steelmaker for 3.2 billion yuan （$468.5 million）。 Some foreign creditors will recoup as much as 60 cents on the dollar.

　　Other foreign creditors will receive nothing. For instance， foreign holders of FerroChina's $130 million in outstanding bonds were completely left out of the restructuring.

　　Still， some foreign investors see the agreement， if approved by the court， as a satisfactory conclusion to the limbo they have been left in for nearly a year.

　　'Although it's disappointing that more value wasn't extracted， it's a reasonable outcome，' said David Kidd， a restructuring specialist at law firm Allen & Overy who isn't involved in the FerroChina agreement.

　　Messages to Ferro-China and China Minmetals seeking comment weren't answered.The ability of FerroChina's foreign creditors to recover the debt depended on whether it was backed by onshore assets or by collateral held in an offshore entity. In 2006， Citigroup led an investor group that provided a $160 million loan to FerroChina. The loan carried onshore-backed debt as well as offshore debt.

　　Under the agreement， the secured portion of the onshore debt will recover nearly 60 cents on the dollar， while holders of the unsecured portion will receive a much steeper haircut， retrieving about 20% of the debt's face value， people familiar with the agreement said. About $75 million of the loan， registered offshore， isn't covered by the restructuring agreement.

　　These people said the agreement is fair because the haircuts for foreign investors with onshore claims are the same as those taken by mainland commercial banks holding FerroChina debt.

　　In another closely watched restructuring of a troubled Chinese company， foreign creditors of Asia Aluminum Holdings Ltd. received as little as a penny on the dollar， while the company repaid its onshore creditors in full， raising cash through a sale of the company to existing management.