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中国最近推迟了对美国公司的一些拟议收购案的审查，包括英特尔52亿美元收购塔式半导体和MaxLinear 38亿美元收购Silicon Motion Technology的交易。国家市场监管局（SAMR）批准的前提条件是这些公司在中国提供他们在其他国家销售的产品。
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这使美国公司处于一个困难的境地，因为华盛顿已经限制了美国公司向中国销售的能力，并在中国扩大了某些类型的生产。此外，任何来自中国的年收入超过1.17亿美元的兼并都需要中国政府的签署。
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北京已将所有的反垄断事务合并到国土资源部，并增加其工作人员，以便有效地审查合并。这是对美国鼓励中国建立一个强大的反垄断制度的回应。
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中国监管机构一直在利用并购审查程序和反垄断规则来推进其政治和经济目标。这是分析家们所说的中国不断扩大的经济胁迫工具箱的一部分，随着中国和美国陷入不断加剧的大国竞争，这种工具箱的作用也在不断增强。中国官员将并购审查视为向外国公司及其政府施压的一种方式。
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中国也一直对使用其版本的美国出口黑名单（即实体名单）保持警惕，该名单可能禁止外国公司在中国销售。最近几周，中国对芯片制造商美光科技公司的进口产品进行了网络安全审查，拘留了日本制药商安斯泰来制药公司的一名员工，并搜查了美国尽职调查公司明思集团的北京办事处。中国还暂停了德勤北京办事处的业务三个月，并处以3100万美元的罚款。
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然而，在中国政府需要阻止外国资本离开的时候，中国一直对打出过多的拳头持谨慎态度。习近平主席钦点的总理李强在上周的一个高级别经济论坛上向外国企业传达了一个开放的信息。现在，全球并购更难获得中国的批准，因为中国政府可以用来向外国公司施压的杠杆较少。
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在美国的鼓励下，中国政府逐步建立了反垄断制度，包括合并审查。中国不断完善这一制度，允许中国公司和政府机构在审查过程中进行权衡。这可能被用作对付外国公司的武器，并导致一些交易被取消，如杜邦公司以52亿美元收购电子材料专家罗杰斯公司的交易。
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英特尔提议的对塔台的收购对该公司至关重要，该交易正在等待中国监管部门的批准。英特尔曾经在中国投入巨资，包括在大连的闪存工厂，最近以90亿美元的价格将这些业务卖给了韩国的SK海力士。其他等待中国审查的交易包括博通公司以610亿美元收购VMware，以及微软公司以687亿美元收购动视暴雪公司。
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中国并购审查的延迟所带来的成本增加，可能导致更多外国公司计划从中国撤资。这是根据美国商会2022年的一份报告，该报告指出，即使延迟不会导致交易终止，它们也会提高受影响的美国公司的经营成本。
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China has recently delayed their reviews of a number of proposed acquisitions by U.S. companies, including Intel’s $5.2 billion takeover of Tower Semiconductor and MaxLinear’s $3.8 billion purchase of Silicon Motion Technology. The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has preconditioned their approval with the companies making available in China products they sell in other countries.
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This puts U.S. companies in a difficult position as Washington has restricted American companies’ ability to sell to China and expanded certain types of production there. Furthermore, any merger with revenue of more than $117 million a year from China requires Beijing’s sign-off.
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Beijing has consolidated all antitrust matters under the SAMR and increased their staff in order to efficiently review mergers. This is in response to the U.S.’s encouragement for China to set up a robust antitrust regime.
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Chinese regulators have been using the merger-review process and antimonopoly rules to advance their political and economic goals. This is part of what analysts call China’s expanding toolbox of economic coercion, which has been gaining traction as China and the US are embroiled in an intensifying great-power competition. Chinese officials see merger reviews as a way to pressure foreign companies and their governments.
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China has also been wary of using its version of the US export blacklist, known as the entity list, which could bar foreign companies from selling in China. In recent weeks, China has opened a cybersecurity review of imports from chip maker Micron Technologies Inc., detained an employee of Japanese drugmaker Astellas Pharma Inc., and raided the Beijing office of US due-diligence company Mintz Group. China also suspended the operations of Deloitte’s Beijing office for three months and imposed a $31 million fine.
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However, China has been cautious about throwing too many punches at a time when Beijing needs to keep foreign capital from leaving. Li Qiang, President Xi’s handpicked premier, delivered an open-to-business message to foreign businesses at a high-level economic forum last week. It is now harder for global mergers and acquisition to get Chinese approval as Beijing has fewer levers to pull to pressure foreign companies.
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Beijing has gradually put in place an antimonopoly regime, including merger reviews, with the encouragement of the U.S. China has kept refining the system, allowing Chinese companies and government agencies to weigh in on the review process. This could be used as a weapon against foreign firms and has caused some deals to be scrapped, such as DuPont de Nemours Inc.'s $5.2 billion deal to buy electronics-materials specialist Rogers Corp.
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Intel’s proposed takeover of Tower is critical for the company and the deal is awaiting Chinese regulatory clearance. Intel once invested heavily in China, including a flash-memory factory in Dalian, and recently sold these operations to South Korea’s SK Hynix for $9 billion. Other deals awaiting Chinese review include Broadcom Inc.'s $61 billion acquisition of VMware, and Microsoft Corp.'s $68.7 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard Inc.
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Increased costs from Chinese merger-review delays could lead to more foreign companies planning to divest out of China. This is according to a 2022 report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce which noted that even if the delays do not lead to terminated deals, they raise the cost of doing business for affected American companies.
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