黑莓47億美元大甩賣
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????黑莓（BlackBerry）本周一發表聲明稱，已接受Fairfax Financial公司提出的47億美元收購要約。后者是一家位于加拿大多倫多的保險公司，目前持有黑莓約10%股票。 ????收購價合計每股9美元，雖然比黑莓周一的開盤價略高出8.95%，但仍比一周前的股價低了不少（黑莓當時股價為10.41美元）。本月，黑莓股票的平均交易價格為每股10.59美元。 ????Fairfax公司表示將牽頭其它投資者參與收購，但具體名單目前仍不得而知。據悉，美林銀行（BofA Merrill Lynch）和蒙特利爾銀行資本市場（BMO ????目前交易仍處于意向階段，意味著最終結果還要取決于盡職調查。而就在上周，黑莓警告稱其季度虧損或高達10億美元（這個數字是分析師預期的3倍）；另外，這家公司還表示計劃裁員4,500人，同時將精簡手機產品。消息一出，市場一片嘩然。如果Fairfax發現形勢進一步惡化，它還可以選擇退出。 ????如果黑莓在簽訂最終協議前成功找到了買家愿意開出更高的賣價格，它將需要賠償Fairfax大約1.55億美元的解約費。如果黑莓在協議正式簽訂后反悔，這筆費用將上升至2.57億美元。黑莓支付解約費還有一個前提條件，那就是Fairfax向黑莓開出的收購價不低于每股9美元。與黑莓不同的是，Fairfax可以隨時退出，但卻不用向黑莓支付任何賠償。 ????Fairfax董事長兼首席執行官普雷姆?瓦特薩（曾擔任過黑莓董事會成員）隨后發表了一份事先擬定的聲明：“我們相信，這筆交易將為黑莓及其客戶、運營商以及公司員工翻開激動人心的全新私有化篇章。我們能立即為股東帶來價值，同時還會繼續執行一家私營企業的長期戰略，即致力于為全球黑莓客戶提供最優秀最安全的企業解決方案。” ????看來Fairfax似乎信心十足，不過，它之前從來沒有進行過如此大額的交易。根據調研公司CapitalIQ的數據，Fairfax此前最大的并購交易交易額尚不足20億美元——而且在科技領域實力單薄。 ????黑莓目前負債為零，這或許是吸引Fairfax的原因。還有可能是同為加拿大企業的緣故。但無論如何，我們都很難想像一家（大部分資產是零售商店和酒店的）保險公司已經制定好計劃來拯救一家窮途末路、已被無數私募資本和科技行業戰略收購者拋棄的智能手機公司。
????黑莓股票在消息公布前已提前停牌，預計將于美國東部時間下午2點恢復交易。黑莓股票最高成交記錄為2008年6月的144.56美元。 ????譯者：項航?? |
????BlackBerry (BBRY) today announced that it has agreed to be acquired for $4.7 billion by Fairfax Financial, a Toronto-listed insurance company that currently holds around 10% of the company's stock. ????The $9 per share deal represents an 8.95% premium over where BlackBerry opened trading this morning, albeit well below where it was trading just one week ago (when it opened at $10.41 per share). For the month, BlackBerry's average trading price had been $10.59 per share. ????Fairfax is said to be leading an investor consortium, although no identities of other equity investors were disclosed. BofA Merrill Lynch (BAC) and BMO Capital Markets (BMO) would arrange the debt financing, although neither has made firm commitments yet. ????It also is important to realize that this is a letter of intent agreement, which means that it is subject to due diligence. Just last week, BlackBerry stunned the market by warning of a $1 billion quarterly loss (3x analyst expectations), plans to lay off 4,500 employees and a reduction in future product offerings. If Fairfax finds even worse news on the horizon, it could still pull out. ????If BlackBerry manages to find a superior offer before a definitive agreement is signed with Fairfax, then the mobile device maker would be required to pay a termination fee of around $155 million. It would rise to $257 million were there to be such an agreement in place. Both termination fees require that Fairfax has not lowered its offer below $9 per share. Conversely, Fairfax does not have to pay BlackBerry anything if it pulls out of the process. ????Prem Watsa, chairman and CEO of Fairfax (and also a former BlackBerry board director), said the following in a prepared statement: "We believe this transaction will open an exciting new private chapter for BlackBerry, its customers, carriers and employees. We can deliver immediate value to shareholders, while we continue the execution of a long-term strategy in a private company with a focus on delivering superior and secure enterprise solutions to BlackBerry customers around the world." ????That's a whole lot of confidence, given that Fairfax hasn't ever done a deal like this before. According to the CapitalIQ database, the company's largest M&A transactions have all been for less than $2 billion -- with no control stakes in the technology sector. ????Perhaps Fairfax was attracted to the BlackBerry balance sheet, which currently features zero debt. Or maybe there is some sort of Canadian nationalism in play here. But it's kind of hard to imagine right now that an insurance company (with a handful of retail and restaurant assets) has figured out a workable investment thesis for a dying smartphone company that every private equity firm and strategic tech acquirer has passed on. ????BlackBerry shares stopped trading in advance of the announcement, but are set to resume trading at 2pm ET. The company's shares hit an all-time high in June 2008, when they traded at $144.56 per share. |
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