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State-held shares are back on the agenda. Popular during Europe’s wave of privatisation in the 1970s and 80s, so called golden shares — spezialaktie in Germany — allowed governments to wield control over a slew of public companies including utilities and oil and gas majors. By far the bulk had been redeemed by the turn of the millennium.
國有股重新被提上議事日程。在上世紀七八十年代的歐洲私有化浪潮中，所謂的黃金股——德國的spezialaktie（一種特殊股票）——讓政府能夠控制包括公用事業公司和石油天然氣巨擘在內的一系列上市公司。到千禧年交替的時候，大部分股份已被贖回。
With globalisation in retreat and protectionism firmly re-ensconced, British politicians are hoping to spark a revival. The defence committee wants them reinstated across defence companies, irked at US private equity owned Cobham’s $3.6bn bid for Ultra Electronics. More speciously, MP Tom Tugendhat is angling for a government share — and a 25.1 per cent stake — in Arm, the chip designer, which owner SoftBank plans to list in New York after its planned $40bn sale to Nvidia collapsed. Echoing Washington and Beijing, he argues that national security is part and parcel of technological leadership.
隨著全球化的倒退和保護主義的重新確立，英國的政治家們希望能引發一場復興。國防委員會希望在所有國防公司中恢復這種做法，因爲他們對美國私募股權公司科巴姆(Cobham)以36億美元競購超音速電子(Ultra Electronics)感到惱火。更似是而非的是，國會議員湯姆-圖根哈特(Tom Tugendhat)正在爭取政府在晶片設計公司Arm的股份--約25.1%的股權，該公司的所有者軟銀計劃將其在紐約上市。先前軟銀試圖以400億美元將其向出售給Nvidia。他贊同華盛頓和北京的說法，認爲國家安全是技術領導力的重要組成部分。
State shares, like those held by tech founders, take a toll in terms of performance and free markets. An asymmetric veto on takeovers deprives other shareholders of the opportunity to sell; a particular handicap in the UK’s M&A-heavy market. Take the redemption of golden shares in water and electricity utilities in the mid-1990s. To the dismay of politicians, this unleashed a flurry of bids and within two years all but one of the 12 regional electricity companies had been flogged.
與科技公司創辦人持有的股票一樣，國有股會對公司業績和自由市場造成影響。對收購的不對稱否決剝奪了其他股東出售的機會;這對英國併購密集型市場尤其不利。以上世紀90年代中期贖回水務和電力公司的黃金股爲例。令政客們沮喪的是，這引發了一系列競標，在兩年內，12家地區電力公司中除了一家之外，其他公司都被出售了。
The European Commission, more concerned at the impediment to the free flow of capital, was largely successful in stamping them out although holdouts — especially in the UK — remain. These include BAE and Rolls-Royce, both of which operate defence capabilities.
歐盟委員會更關心的是對資本自由流動的阻礙，它在很大程度上成功地阻止了這些公司，儘管仍有「釘子戶」（尤其是在英國）。其中包括BAE公司和羅爾斯-羅伊斯公司，這兩家公司都防禦能力。
There is a case to be made for government vetoes when it comes to national security. Golden shares also have a use elsewhere, such as fostering environmental or social missions. The Thomson family’s founders’ share in Thomson Reuters, designed to safeguard independence and lack of bias in reporting, also makes sense. Slapping similar government rights on to tech companies does not.
在涉及國家安全的問題上，政府的否決權是有理由的。黃金股在其他方面也有用途，例如促進環境或社會發展中。湯森家族的創辦人持有湯森路透的股份也是有道理的，因爲其旨在保障報導的獨立性和無偏見。而賦予科技公司類似的政府權利則不然。