近来，又有一例中国公司对加拿大矿业公司的投资受到了《加拿大投资法》（“加拿大投资法”）的审查（该法案系规制对加拿大的外国投资）。该等审查突显出中国矿业公司如今在海外投资时面临的困难。随着资源类项目越来越多地在国家安全的背景下被审查，加拿大对矿业交易的审查亦成为在全球范围内资源国家主义大趋势的一部分——从赞比亚加强对国内成分要求的审查，到津巴布韦对锂矿开采的国内选矿要求，再到澳大利亚对外国投资越来越严格的国家利益测试。源于以下一组数字，根据加拿大投资法进行的加拿大国家安全审查在矿业领域尤为突出：全球75%的矿业公司在加拿大注册、该等矿业公司持有全球超过3200亿美元的矿业资产；全球近50%的上市矿业和矿产勘探公司位于加拿大、该等公司的总市值达5200亿美元（截止2022年）。虽然加拿大投资法对中国矿业投资设置了一系列障碍，特别是在涉及新能源技术的关键资源时，但适当的交易架构、谨慎的信息公开和审慎的准备工作可以大大增加中国投资不适用加拿大投资法审查程序的可能性；或者在无法规避的情况下，成功应对加拿大投资法审查。我们在下文中讨论了一些可能的策略。

Recent news of another Chinese company’s investment in a Canadian mining company following scrutiny under Canada’s Investment Canada Act (ICA), legislation which governs foreign investment in Canada, highlights the difficulties Chinese mining companies face when investing abroad today. With resource projects being increasingly examined in the context of national security, Canadian reviews of mining transactions are part of wider trend of resource nationalism occurring around the world - from increased scrutiny of domestic ownership requirements in Zambia[1] to domestic benefaction requirements for lithium mining in Zimbabwe[2] to ever more stringent national interest tests for foreign investment in Australia.[3] The Canadian national security reviews, arising under the ICA, loom particularly large in the mining sector due the fact that 75% of the world’s mining companies are domiciled in Canada[4] with global mining assets valued at over $320 billion[5] and almost 50% of the world’s publicly listed mining and mineral exploration companies are in Canada with a combined market capitalization of $520 billion as of 2022.[6] While the ICA throws up a number of barriers to Chinese mining investment, especially when it comes to resources deemed critical for new energy technologies, proper transaction structuring, careful public messaging and prudent preparation can greatly improve opportunities for Chinese investments to avoid ICA review processes or, if unavoidable, successfully navigate ICA reviews. We discuss a selection of possible strategies below.  

I. 加拿大投资法速览 / A quick review of the ICA

中国矿业公司投资加拿大公司或收购加拿大公司持有的资产（无论是境内外）的主要障碍是加拿大投资法。加拿大投资法是加拿大的一项联邦法律，旨在审查和评估非加拿大实体在加拿大的重大投资，以确保该等投资：（1）给加拿大带来净利益，和/或（2）不损害加拿大的国家安全。创新、科学和经济发展部部长（The Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development）通过外国投资审查和经济安全局（Foreign Investment Review and Economic Security Branch）行使广泛的权力，禁止潜在投资或对潜在投资施以附加条件，或者在交易和投资已经完成的情况下要求剥离。尽管该项法案已经存在了几十年，但最近在以国家安全为由审查涉及中国企业的交易时，其使用频率大大增加。随着2022年12月加拿大启动了“关键矿产战略”——优先审查对31种关键矿产的控制权产生影响的投资（最初的重点是六类关键矿产——锂、石墨、镍、钴、铜和稀土元素），加拿大投资法的审查便主要集中在自然资源领域。值得注意的是，在2022-2023年间，受加拿大投资法延长审查的32项投资中，26项（81%）涉及投资者的最终控制人是中国人。欲了解更多信息，可阅读我们之前关于加拿大投资法以及加拿大投资法修正案的文章（该修正案最近已经于2024年3月22日成为法律，并且将在近期生效）。

The main barrier for Chinese mining companies investing in Canadian companies or acquiring assets held by Canadian companies, whether domestically or abroad, is the ICA. The ICA is a Canadian federal law designed to review and evaluate significant investments in Canada by non-Canadians to ensure that such investments are (1) a net benefit to Canada and/or (2) not injurious to Canada’s national security. The Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, acting through the Foreign Investment Review and Economic Security Branch (FIRESB), exercises broad power to prohibit or impose conditions on potential investments or, in the case of a completed transactions and investments, order divestures. Although the legislation has been around for decades, it has seen a surge in use recently to review transactions involving Chinese enterprises on national security grounds. Much of his interest has focused in on natural resources, with Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy launched in December 2022 prioritizing reviewing investments that would impact control over 31 critical minerals,[7] with an initial focus on six minerals - lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, copper, and rare earth elements.[8] Notably in 2022-2023, of the 32 investments subject to extended review under the ICA, 26 (81%) involved investments where the ultimate controller of the investor was Chinese.[9] More can be read in our previous articles about the framework of ICA  and coming amendments to the ICA that recently became law on 22 March 2024.[10] The amendments will come into force over the coming year.

II. 加拿大投资法背景下常见的投资或者并购方式 / Common Investment or Acquisition Approach under the Context of the ICA

目前，加拿大投资法对加拿大公司的子公司的（境外）活动或其资产没有域外管辖权。加拿大投资法仅适用于加拿大企业的直接或间接行动，即在加拿大经营业务并具备以下条件：（1）在加拿大有营业地点，（2）在加拿大雇佣或自雇从事与业务有关的个人，和（3）在加拿大有用于经营业务的资产。因此，我们将简要介绍三种常见的可能收购加拿大公司且不会触发加拿大投资法审查的交易结构。但是，特别需要提示的是，故意规避加拿大投资法审查的行为确实会受到处罚。因此需要特别注意政策信息，以确保以下交易结构不会被认为是为了规避加拿大投资法审查所设立。

Currently, the ICA does not have extraterritorial jurisdiction over the activities over the subsidiaries of Canadian companies, or their assets. The ICA only applies to the indirect or direct action of Canadian businesses, which is defined as a business carried on in Canada that has (1) a place of business in Canada, (2) an individual or individuals in Canada who are employed or self-employed in connection with the business, and (3) assets in Canada used in carrying on the business.[11] As such, we have provided general overviews of three possible transaction structures for acquiring Canadian companies that that will not trigger ICA review. It’s important to remember that penalties do exist for purposefully circumventing the ICA[12] and particularly care needs to be given to public messaging to ensure the use of the following transaction structures don’t appear to be for the purposes of avoiding ICA review. 

a. 直接投资或收购非加拿大子公司或资产

Direct investments or acquisitions of non-Canadian subsidiaries or assets

最简单、最直接的交易结构是将投资或者收购的范围限制在（加拿大的）海外，最好是（海外的）项目公司。因为非加拿大公司的股份或其资产不是“位于加拿大的资产”，所以不会在加拿大投资法的审查范围之内。虽然在实践中，在上市公司层面进行投资也包括了投资下属的项目公司，但是对于加拿大上市公司的投资为加拿大投资法的审查建立了必要的联系。根据我们的观察，在2022年被要求剥离相关业务的三家中国矿业公司的原因都是因为收购了在多伦多证券交易所创业板（TSX-Venture）上市的加拿大公司。因此，将投资或收购限制在非加拿大实体通常可以消除来自于加拿大投资法的管辖权威胁。但遗憾的是，这种简单和直接的方法将随着加拿大投资法修正案的出台而改变，该修正案将扩大范围，如果收购方为国有企业，那么加拿大境外的资产也包括在内。根据加拿大投资对于国有企业的扩展定义，该等定义将受到一国“控制或者影响”的公司也纳入其中，许多中国公司将会受限于该等新的限制。

The simplest and most straight forward transaction structure is to limit the investment in or acquisition of an overseas project which is to limit such investment or acquisition to the overseas entity, ideally the project company. Because the shares of a non-Canadian company, or its assets, are not ‘assets in Canada’, there is no ICA jurisdiction. While there is a practice of investing on the public company level as part of an investment in a project company, the investment in the Canada public company level creates the necessary nexus for ICA review. Indeed, three Chinese mining companies that received divesture orders under the ICA in 2022 were the result of investments at the public company level of TSX-Venture listed Canadian companies. Limiting the investment or acquisition to a non-Canadian entity simply eliminates any threat of ICA jurisdiction. Unfortunately, this simple and straight forward approach is set to change with coming amendments to the ICA which will expand the definition to include assets outside of Canada when the acquirer is a state-owned enterprise.[13] Due the ICA's expansive definition of state-owned enterprise - which includes companies under the ‘control or influence of a state - many private Chinese companies will likely fall under the new restrictions. 

b. 背靠背交易 Back-to-back Transactions

在加拿大投资法修订后，一种仍然可行的替代方法是将加拿大一方从与中国公司的交易中剔除。这可以通过背靠背的股权或资产交易实现：加拿大卖方将股权或资产出售给中间商，该中间商再通过单独的交易将其出售给中国投资者。理想情况下，该中间商来自于项目公司所在地或者来自于对加拿大“友好”的地方，以避免引起不必要的关注。当中国公司购买目标股权或资产时，卖方不是加拿大主体，因此加拿大投资法对该交易不具有司法管辖权。如果是为了设立合资公司或者类似架构（而需要引入中国企业），加拿大公司可以将项目出售给中间商，然后在项目（经由中间商）转让给中国实体后回购该项目。上述回购构成加拿大公司的收购，而加拿大主体的收购和投资明确不受加拿大投资法的管辖。但是需要明确的是，该等模式需要充分考虑其税务影响，并确保其他因素不会触发加拿大投资法，例如目标公司雇佣加拿大籍员工。

An alternative approach that will likely still be viable after the amendments to the ICA is to simply remove the Canadian party from a transaction with a Chinese company. This can be done through a back-to-back equity or asset transaction in which the Canadian owned party will sell off equity or assets to a neutral intermediary who will then in turn sell it on to the Chinese party in separate transactions. Ideally, this intermediary would be from the project’s jurisdiction or from somewhere ‘friendly’ to Canada to avoid unwanted attention. When a Chinese company buys the equity or assets, the seller won’t be Canadian person and therefore ICA would not have jurisdiction over such transaction. For the purposes of establishing a joint venture or similar structures for an existing company, the Canadian company can sell the project to an intermediary and then buy back into the project after it has been transferred to a Chinese entity as it would constitute an acquisition by a Canadian company and acquisitions and investments by Canadian persons are explicitly not subject to the ICA. Significant consideration needs to be given to tax implications of any such arrangements as well as to ensure other elements will not trigger the ICA, such as the target having Canadian employees. 

c. 迁址境外 Redomiciling

另外一种清晰但也耗时的方法是将加拿大公司搬迁至加拿大以外的另一个司法管辖区。由于加拿大投资法仅适用于对加拿大企业的投资，一旦加拿大公司在另一个国家合法注册，该公司即不再是加拿大公司，且处于加拿大投资法的司法管辖范围之外。常见的是，在加拿大公司搬迁至新加坡或阿拉伯联合酋长国等对中国更友好的司法管辖区后，中国公司可以根据新的司法管辖区的投资法律进行任何交易或投资。在这一过程中，加拿大公司需要摆脱加拿大业务、资产和员工以规避加拿大投资法司法管辖权，因此可能需要复杂的重组。这是一个耗时的过程——有时需要长达半年时间——并且取决于股东的成功支持。在实践中我们也见到有其他重组方法可能更快，但可能更昂贵。

Another clear although time-consuming way is to have the Canadian company redomicile outside of Canada to another jurisdiction.  Once a Canadian company is legally registered in another country, it ceases to be a Canadian company and it is unequivocally outside of ICA jurisdiction as the ICA is only applicable to investments into Canadian businesses. Commonly speaking, after the Canadian company has moved to a more China friendly jurisdiction such as Singapore or the United Arab Emirates, the Chinese company can enter into any transaction or investment, subject to the new jurisdiction’s investment laws. During this process, the Canadian company would need to get rid of Canadian business, assets and employees to avoid ICA jurisdiction, potentially necessitating a complicated restructuring. This is a timely process - sometimes taking up to half a year - and subject to successful shareholder support. We also see some other restructuring methods are available that may be speedier but can more expensive.

III. 应对无法避免的加拿大投资法审查流程 / Managing an Unavoidable ICA Process

在涉及投资或收购加拿大国内资产或股权时，或当上述方案不可行时，投资者须做好应对加拿大投资法审查程序的准备。该程序本身具有政治性，投资审查的最终决定由加拿大创新、科学和经济发展部长通过外国投资审查和经济安全局做出。因此，这个过程既昂贵又缓慢，需要与政府官员反复开会、不断处理信息和文件要求，并且可能还需要游说政客。如果投资者想得到附加条件的批准可能需要就具体条款进行长期的谈判。但是，只要对加拿大及其盟友的实际利益是显而易见的，外国投资审查和经济安全局也未必会预设建议禁止投资或对投资施加苛刻条件的结论。如果想在敏感行业成功申请，就需要在提交初步通知之前就与外国投资审查和经济安全局讨论并制定计划，确保加拿大政府层面的担忧得到解决。这可能包括：确保合资企业中的公司控制权在加拿大实体手中，或者确保销售优先考虑西方公司而不是中国公司。周密的计划和合理的交易结构可以将不太可能获得批准的交易变成有可能获得批准的交易。

When it comes to investing in or acquiring domestic Canadian assets or equity, or the above options are unavailable, it is best to come prepared to deal with ICA review process. The process itself is political in nature, with final decisions on investment reviews being made by the Canadian Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development acting through its Foreign Investment Review and Economic Security Branch (FIRESB). As such, it is both an expensive and slow process due to repeated meetings with government officials, dealing with constant information and document requests, and potentially the need to lobby politicians. Conditional approvals may require prolonged negotiations on the specific terms. However, it is not a forgone conclusion however that the FIRESB will recommend prohibiting or placing onerous conditions on an investment provided that tangible benefits are clear for Canada and its allies. Successful applications in sensitive sectors involve beginning discussions with the FIRESB before even filing an initial notification and having a plan to ensure Canadian concerns will be addressed. This may range from ensuring company control in a joint venture rest with the Canadian entity or that sales prioritize western companies before Chinese companies. Careful planning and well-structured transactions can turn a transaction that is unlikely approval into a transaction that is likely to be approved. 

IV. 结论 / Conclusion

中国投资者与加拿大公司进行交易存在许多可行的选择，包括但不限于上文讨论的那些，但最终目的无非要么完全规避加拿大投资法的审查，要么成功应对加拿大投资法审查程序。虽然中国对加拿大公司的投资需要比前几年更加复杂的结构，但我们认为精心策划以及妥善管理的公共信息仍然可以促成交易。

A number of viable options exist for Chinese investors to enter into deals with Canadian companies, including but not limited to those discussed above, in a way that can either avoid the ICA altogether or successfully manage an ICA review process. While Chinese investments into Canadian companies require more complicated structuring than in years past, we believe careful planning and well-managed public messaging can still get deals done.

[注] 

[1] https://赞比亚矿业权拥有者接受审查的beneficial-ownership-to-come-under-spectiny-for-mining-righders-in-zambia/

[2] https://Bloomberg.Com/News/Article/2023-11-30/Zimbabwe-plans-14-fold-increase-in-spending-to-aid-economy

[3] https://Minterellison.Com/Article/Firb-2024-Outlook-And-Foreign-Investment-2023-Recap

[4] https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2021/03/minister-ng-promotes-canadas-mining-industry-at-virtual-prospectors--developers-association-of- canada-2021-convention.html

[5] https://natural-resources. canada.ca/maps-tools-and-publications/publications/minerals-mining-publications/canadian-mining-assets/19323

[6] https://www. canada.ca/en/campaign/critical-minerals-in-加拿大/canadian-critical-minerals-strategy.html

[7] The entire list of 31 “critical minerals” are aluminum, antimony, bismuth, cesium, chromite, cobalt, copper, fluorspar, gallium, germanium, graphite, helium, indium, lithium, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, niobium, platinum group metals, potash, rare earth elements, scandium, tantalum, tellurium, tin, titanium, tungsten, uranium, vanadium, and zinc.

[8] https://www. canada.ca/en/campaign/critical-minerals-in-canada/canadian-critical-minerals-strategy.html

[9] https://ised-isde. canada.ca/site/investment-canada-act/en/home/annual-report-2022-2023

[10] https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/investment-canada-act/en/investment-canada-act/modernization

[11] https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/-21.8/index.html

[12] https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/-21.8/index.html

[13] https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/bill/C-34/three-reading