CHINA: An Introduction to Capital Markets: Domestic Issuances
Five Issues for Consideration in Cross-industry Mergers and Acquisitions
According to statistics of Yi Dong, from the time of the release of the Opinions on Deepening the Market Reform of Mergers and Acquisitions of Listed Companies (hereinafter referred to as the “Six Articles of Mergers and Acquisitions”) up to 31 March 2025, a total of 35 listed companies issued cross-industry M&A plans (accounting for about a third of the total number of M&A plans in the same period). Faced with the arrival of a new wave of M&A opportunities, how best to ensure the smooth implementation and effective integration of cross-industry M&A and prevent the risk of blind spots in? We suggest focusing on the following five points.
First, define the strategic objectives and streamline the logic behind M&A
Although the “Six Articles of Mergers and Acquisitions” support cross-industry M&A, the premise is that cross-industry mergers and acquisitions must (i) focus on industrial transformation and upgrading and (ii) seek the second growth curve. Based on the cross-industry M&A plans announced by listed companies after the issuance of the “Six Articles of Mergers and Acquisitions”, except for a few isolated cases, the M&A plans that have been issued all meet one or more of the policy points under the “Articles of Mergers and Acquisitions”. Therefore, under the current regulatory policy, cross-industry mergers and acquisitions need to be carried out in a reasonable and necessary manner, that is, with a feasible underlying industrial logic. Where this is the case. cross-industry mergers and acquisitions can effectively bring sustainable profitability and new growth drives for listed companies.
The industrial logic of cross-industry M&A mainly focuses on whether the transaction is in line with the development trend of the industry and the long-term strategic objectives of the acquiring company. In the current market environment, enterprises are facing fierce competition and changing market demand. Entering into new industries through cross-industry mergers and acquisitions can help enterprises facing growth bottlenecks to achieve industrial upgrading and transformation. Judging from the targets of recent cross-industry M&A activity (both announced and completed) by listed companies in the past year, they are mainly concentrated in areas with relatively high technology content, such as integrated circuits, new energy, high-end manufacturing and healthcare.
In addition to industrial logic, cross-industry mergers and acquisitions should also focus on business logic. Business logic mainly focuses on whether mergers and acquisitions can bring actual economic benefits and market value. Acquired businesses should have a certain degree of maturity and profitability, which can bring stable cash flow and profits to listed companies. Among the 35 cross-industry M&A target companies mentioned above, the majority have positive net profits, and some of them have strong profitability.
In-depth industry research to avoid cognitive blind areas
If the business of a listed company belongs to a traditional industry, and the target of cross-industry M&A is a company working in a sector with high technical barriers to entry, such the biomedical and semiconductor industries, when conducting cross-industry mergers and acquisitions, the listed company needs to pay attention to whether it will be unable to achieve synergy or effective management due to inadequate technical understanding and digestion. There is a risk that, as a result of a cross-industry merger, the original advantages of a listed company (such as sales channels or customer resources) will not be reused, requiring additional investment, thus increasing the burden on listed companies and bringing operational risks.
Listed companies should engage professional advisors, and set up due diligence teams with cross-industry experience, to comprehensively understand the core competitiveness and advantages and disadvantages of the target company. They should also thoroughly analyse the industry policy trends, competition patterns and technical barriers of the target company, and use third-party professional institutions to obtain industry data to reduce information asymmetry and cognitive blind spots.
Reasonable valuation and appropriate transaction structure design
Due to industrial differences in cross-industry M&A, on the one hand, listed companies may not fully understand the industry of the target company, and there is information asymmetry, which may result in an overestimate of the value of the underlying assets. In such cases, these listed companies may carry out high premium mergers and acquisitions resulting in high debt ratios. On the other hand, cross-industry mergers and acquisitions usually adopt the profit forecast model to evaluate the underlying assets, resulting in a large amount of goodwill for the acquiring listed companies after acquisition, and if the underlying company fails to achieve the expected performance target, there will be a risk of goodwill impairment for listed companies, which will further affect the company's credit rating and future financing, and seriously endanger the company's listing status.
When listed companies implement cross-industry mergers and acquisitions, they are advised to adopt multi-dimensional and reasonable valuation methods to determine a realistic value on the basis of comprehensive, objective and in-depth due diligence of the target companies. In addition, when designing the transaction structure, they are advised to adopt the methods of step-by-step acquisition, instalment payment and performance commitment. On the one hand, they can first examine the business development of the target company by testing the water, so as to reduce the information asymmetry, and the risk of goodwill impairment caused by a one-off, high-premium acquisition. On the other hand, after the initial acquisition is completed, they can promote the integration and co-ordinated development of the original business and the new business, so as to ensure the sustainability of the operation after the full acquisition.
Formulate integration plans and strengthen co-ordination
In cross-industry mergers and acquisitions of listed companies, there is usually a significant gap between the listed companies and the target companies in the relevant field of industry, which leads to differences in strategic thinking and operational styles within the post-merger, management team, and this can easily lead to internal friction and result in the loss of talent and a decline in efficiency. For example, in many cross-industry mergers, the original management team of the target company left their jobs and set up another team after fulfilling their performance commitments.
In addition, the target company usually makes performance commitments, and the prerequisite for achieving performance commitments is to retain the management rights of the original management team. This way seems reasonable, but after many listed companies adopt this mode, they only complete the change of control at the equity level over the target company, but do not achieve real control, resulting in the target company operating as an independent system, lacking integration, and thus breaking away from the actual control of listed companies, and eventually out of control.
In order to avoid integration risks such as losing control of subsidiaries after acquisition, it is suggested that listed companies should plan integration measures for talent, technology and sales channels in advance before implementing cross-industry mergers and acquisitions. They should take effective measures in terms of equity structure, board control, management arrangements, financial integration, cultural integration, strategic integration, legal and compliance, and risk management. Through reasonable management arrangements, governance structure optimisation and cultural integration, listed companies can effectively control the target companies after M&A and achieve long-term sustainable development.
Formulation of compliance and risk control plans
For cross-industry M&A, we should not only formulate contingency plans for external risks such as policy changes and technological iterations, such as setting up necessary termination clauses, but also rationally plan M&A financing and consideration payment methods, and adopt a combination of equity, cash and convertible bonds, as well as phased issuance and phased payment, etc, so as to avoid liquidity risk due to M&A. In addition, cross-industry mergers and acquisitions by listed companies often involve major investment decisions or constitute material transactions. In this process, insider information disclosure and insider trading should be prevented to prevent the termination of transactions.
Conclusion
Cross-industry M&A is an effective way for listed companies to break through the growth bottlenecks, but its success is highly dependent on strategic rationality, industry awareness and integration ability. Listed companies need to abandon a speculative mentality, be guided by long-term value, and reduce risks through professional due diligence, prudent trading and meticulous management.
跨行业并购需关注的五大事项
根据易董等统计数据，自中国证监会发布《关于深化上市公司并购重组市场改革的意见》（简称“并购六条”）至2025年3月31日期间，以首次发布并购方案日为统计口径共有35家上市公司发布跨行业并购方案（约占同期并购方案总数的1/3）。面对新一波并购机遇的到来，如何确保跨行业并购的顺利实施和有效整合，防范盲目并购的风险，我们建议重点关注以下五点：
明确战略目标，理顺并购逻辑
“并购六条”虽然支持跨行业并购，但前提是跨行业并购必须围绕产业转型升级、寻求第二增长曲线。从“并购六条”发布后上市公司公告的跨行业并购方案来看，除个案外，已发布的并购方案均满足一条及以上的“并购六条”政策要点。因此，在目前的监管政策下，跨行业并购需要具有一定合理性和必要性，即具有合理的产业逻辑，通过跨行业并购切实能够为上市公司带来可持续盈利能力和新的增长点。
跨行业并购的产业逻辑主要关注并购是否符合行业发展趋势和企业长期战略目标。在当前市场环境下，企业面临着激烈的竞争和不断变化的市场需求，通过跨行业并购进入新的行业领域，可以帮助面临增长瓶颈的企业实现产业升级和转型。从过去一年公告进行中或已经完成的上市公司跨行业并购标的来看，主要集中在集成电路、新能源、高端制造、医疗健康等科技含量比较高的领域。
除了产业逻辑外，跨行业并购还应该关注商业逻辑。商业逻辑主要关注并购是否能够带来实际的经济效益和市场价值。收购的项目应具备一定的成熟度和盈利能力，能够为上市公司带来稳定的现金流和利润。前述35例跨行业并购标的中，绝大部分标的公司净利润为正数，且部分标的盈利能力较强。
深度行业调研，规避认知盲区
如果上市公司本身业务属于传统产业，跨行业并购的标的是行业技术壁垒较高的公司，如生物医药、半导体等，上市公司在进行跨行业并购时需要关注是否会因技术理解及消化能力不足而无法实现协同或管理，以及因跨行业导致上市公司原有的优势（如销售渠道、客户资源等）无法复用，需要额外投入，从而加重上市公司负担，带来经营风险。
上市公司应聘请专业的中介机构，组建具备跨行业经验的尽调团队，对标的公司的核心竞争力以及优劣势等进行全面了解，深入分析标的公司的行业政策趋势、竞争格局及技术壁垒，同时利用第三方专业机构获取行业数据，减少信息不对称和认知盲区。
合理的估值与恰当的交易结构设计
跨行业并购的行业差异较大，一方面，上市公司可能对标的公司的行业了解不够充分，存在信息不对称的情况，从而很大程度上会高估标的资产的价值，因此进行高溢价并购，推高负债率；另一方面，跨行业并购通常对标的资产采取收益法进行评估，导致上市公司在收购后形成大额商誉，而一旦标的公司无法完成预期的业绩承诺，则会给上市公司存在带来商誉减值的风险，从而进一步影响公司的信用评级和未来融资，严重的话还会危及到公司的上市地位。
上市公司实施跨行业并购时，应在全面客观深入地对标的公司进行尽职调查的基础上，采用多维度且合理的估值方法，确定合理的估值。此外，在设计交易架构时，可以采取分步收购、分期付款以及业绩对赌等方式，一方面可以先通过试水的方式考察标的公司的业务发展情况，减少信息不对称性，降低一次性高额溢价收购所导致的商誉减值风险，另一方面可以在首次收购完成后，推动原有业务与新业务的融合与协同发展，确保全面收购后能够实现经营的可持续性。
制定整合预案，强化协同落地
在上市公司跨行业并购中，上市公司和标的公司的行业领域通常存在显著差距，从而导致跨行业后的管理团队在战略思维、运营模式上都可能存在差异，容易引发内部摩擦，从而导致人才流失、效率下降，如市场上很多跨行业并购，标的公司原管理团队在完成业绩承诺后即纷纷离职、另立团队。
此外，因标的公司通常会作出业绩承诺，而实现业绩承诺的前提条件则是保留原管理团队的经营管理权。这种方式看似合理，但不少上市公司采取此种模式后，对标的公司仅完成了股权方面的控制权变更，而未实现真正的控制，导致标的公司自成体系、缺乏整合，从而脱离上市公司控制，最终失控。
为避免收购后出现子公司失控等整合风险，建议上市公司在跨行业并购前提前规划人才、技术、渠道的整合措施，在股权结构、董事会控制权、管理层安排、财务整合、文化整合、战略整合、法律与合规以及风险管理等方面采取有效措施。通过合理的管理层安排、治理结构优化和文化融合，上市公司得以有效控制并购后的标的公司，实现长期的可持续发展。
制定合规与风险预案
针对跨行业并购，不仅要就政策变动、技术迭代等外部风险制定应急预案，如设置必要的协议终止条款等，还要合理规划并购融资及对价支付方式，采取股权、现金、可转债相结合，以及分期发行、分期支付等多种方式，避免因并购给上市公司带来流动性风险。此外，上市公司进行跨行业并购，往往涉及重大的投资决策或重大交易事项，在此过程中应防范内幕信息泄露和内幕交易，防止因此导致交易终止。
结语
跨行业并购是上市公司突破增长瓶颈的有效路径，但其成功高度依赖战略理性、行业认知及整合能力。上市公司需摒弃投机心态，以长期价值为导向，通过专业尽调、审慎交易和精细化管理降低风险。