?|
????美國最早同時也是最大的在線團購公司Groupon（與騰訊合資的中國公司名為高朋——譯注）近日以7.5億美元的價格申請實行首次公開募股（IPO）。摩根士丹利公司（Morgan Stanley）和高盛公司（Goldman Sachs）是Groupon首次公開募股的聯合主要承銷商，瑞士信貸銀行（Credit Suisse）也將參與此次IPO的承銷。 ????Groupon并未聲明將選擇紐交所（NYSE）還是納斯達克（Nasdaq）進行交易。但是，該公司明確表示，其定單符號將名為GRPN。與兩家最近上市的互聯網公司LinkedIn和俄羅斯搜索引擎Yandex一樣，Groupon選擇的也是雙級股票結構。 ????2010年，這家總部位于芝加哥的公司營業收入為7.13億美元，凈損失為4.13億美元。2011年首個財季，營業收入為6.64億美元，比去年同期增長了14倍，凈損失為1.13億美元。這家公司目前擁有7,000多名雇員，迄今已經在全球43個國家向8,310萬名訂戶銷售了7,000多萬個Groupon團購。 ????迄今為止，該公司已經募集了5.6億美元的風險資本資金；此外，它還支付了5.73億美元的流動資金給早期員工和股東[其中也包括那些因Groupon拒絕谷歌（Google）60億美元天價收購方案而怒火中燒的人]。其主要外部股東包括恩頤投資公司（New Enterprise Associates）和加速合伙公司（Accel Partners）。 ????Groupon表示，首次公開募股的股票并非全部由公司自行承擔，有部分會源自“銷售股東”。但是，它并未透露任何與這些股東的認購數量或者身份有關的信息。 ????（最新消息：從下面這條tweet消息可以看出，似乎銷售股東信息迄今仍未完全確定。） ????業界曾普遍預計Groupon今年會上市。但是，由于首席運營官羅伯?索羅門（Rob Solomon）3月份意外辭職，致使公司計劃受阻。一個月后，前谷歌（Google）高管瑪戈?吉奧爾吉亞迪斯（Margo Georgiadis）接任。但是，從公司高級管理層的變更，到公司申請首次公開募股，這段過渡時間仍嫌過短。 ????但是，說到底，Groupon本來就并非一家循規蹈矩的公司。首席執行官安德魯?梅森（Andrew Mason）一向特立獨行，這由他執筆的首次公開募股申請介紹信中即可見一斑： ????我們不同尋常，我們自我欣賞。 ????我們希望，客戶與Groupon共渡的時光令人難忘。人生苦短，應該幫助別人過得多姿多彩才是。 ????還有下面這條（有些人認為，Groupon所在的行業門檻低，幾乎沒什么傳統壁壘可言，因而其成功很可能只是曇花一現。下面這句即是對這些人的正面回擊）： ????我們心里只有客戶及合作商家。 ????我們堅信，曾經輝煌一時的公司之所以衰落，并非因為他們輸給了對手，而是輸給了自己。而且，一旦公司不再關注客戶滿意度時，這種情況就會發生。因此，我們也不打算與競爭對手針鋒相對。我們會對他們予以關注，但并不會因此分散注意力。我們的決策將始終以客戶和零售商的滿意度為第一要務。 ????以及： ????我們的成功不以世俗標準來衡量。 ????我們密切追蹤三個主要財務指標。首先，我們跟蹤毛利，因為我們認為它才真正代表我們所創造的價值。其次，我們衡量自由現金流；因為在我們眼里，這是考量長期財務穩定性的最佳指標。最后，我們用來衡量公司財務績效的第三個指標是調整后的總部門運營利潤（Adjusted Consolidated Segment Operating Income，ACSOI）。這個指標指的是在產生新的用戶采購成本和某些非現金支出之前的總部門運營利潤。我們將之視為：與長期發展相關的營銷成本產生之前的運營收益率。 ????最后： ????這個行業問世僅30個月，與業內的任何一家企業一樣，我們的成功之路絕不會一帆風順，既有輝煌燦爛的時刻，亦有愚不可及的暗淡歲月。我們深知，前途將時有坎坷。對于有志同行的人，我們深感謝意。 ????論及崎嶇的前進之路，也許我應該在此提及，6月2日，LinkedIn股票交易價跌破了80美元/股的大關。換言之，那些在公開市場購買了首日股票的投資者，如今已被套牢。當然，無論從目標還是規模而言，Groupon和LinkedIn都是兩家截然不同的公司。但是，對Groupon來說，此事仍然不失為一個警醒：即便泡沫不斷膨脹，沒有投資銀行關系的散戶的投資之路仍然步履維艱。 ????譯者：大海 |
????Groupon, the original and largest daily deals company, has filed to raise $750 million in an initial public offering. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are listed as co-lead underwriters, with Credit Suisse also participating. ????The company did not say if it plans to trade on the NYSE or Nasdaq, but did say its ticker symbol would by GRPN. It features a dual-class stock structure, as have other recent Internet issuers like LinkedIn (LNKD) and Yandex (YNDX). ????The Chicago-based company reports a $413 million net loss for 2010, on $713 million in revenue. For the first three months of 2011, it's a $113 million net loss on $664 million in revenue (14x rev increase from year-earlier period). It has over 7,000 employees and has sold more than 70 million "Groupons" to 83.1 million subscribers in 43 countries. ????The company had raised over $560 million in venture capital funding, plus another $573 million that provided liquidity to early employees and shareholders (including those angry that Groupon had turned down a $6 billion acquisition offer from Google). Major outside shareholders include New Enterprise Associates and Accel Partners. ????Groupon says that some of the IPO shares will come from "selling shareholders" -- as opposed to only from the company -- but does not provide any information about quantity or identity. ????[Update: It seems, from this tweet, as if the selling shareholder info has not yet been determined.] ????Groupon had been widely expected to go public this year, but its plans hiccuped when chief operating officer Rob Solomon surprisingly resigned back in March. Ex-Google executive Margo Georgiadis was hired one month later to succeed Solomon, but that's still a very short turnaround from new senior management to IPO filing. ????Then again, Groupon is not the most conventional of companies. Its IPO registration includes am introductory letter from iconoclastic CEO Andrew Mason, which includes the following nuggets: ????We are unusual and we like it that way. ????We want the time people spend with Groupon to be memorable. Life is too short to be a boring company. ????And this (which is a direct response to those who argue Groupon cannot stay wildly successful in an enterprise that has few traditional barriers to entry): ????Our customers and merchants are all we care about. ????We believe that when once-great companies fall, they don't lose to competitors, they lose to themselves—and that happens when they stop focusing on making people happy. As such, we do not intend to be reactive to competitors. We will watch them, but we won't distract ourselves with decisions that aren't designed primarily to make our customers and merchants happy. ????And: ????We don't measure ourselves in conventional ways. ????There are three main financial metrics that we track closely. First, we track gross profit, which we believe is the best proxy for the value we're creating. Second, we measure free cash flow—there is no better metric for long-term financial stability. Finally, we use a third metric to measure our financial performance—Adjusted Consolidated Segment Operating Income, or Adjusted CSOI. This metric is our consolidated segment operating income before our new subscriber acquisition costs and certain non-cash charges; we think of it as our operating profitability before marketing costs incurred for long-term growth. ????Finally: ????As with any business in a 30-month-old industry, the path to success will have twists and turns, moments of brilliance and other moments of sheer stupidity. Knowing that this will at times be a bumpy ride, we thank you for considering joining us. ????Speaking of that bumpy ride, it's perhaps worth noting that LinkedIn shares today are trading below $80 per share. In other words, those who bought first-day shares on the open market are currently underwater. These two companies are obviously quite different in both purpose and scale, but it's a reminder of how retail investors without I-bank ties can get burned even while the bubble is inflated... |
相關稿件
最新文章