收購黑莓只是一個傳說
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????到目前為止，看來黑莓（Blackberry）還沒有被Fairfax金融收購，也沒被高通（Qualcomm）、瑟伯勒斯資本管理公司（Cerberus）、SAP、谷歌（Google）、聯想（Lenovo）、Facebook等公司收購。當然，更沒有被我姨媽卡羅爾買下。我想表達的意思是，它們都是這家有望成為Palm第二公司的潛在買家。 ????11月4日上午，加拿大企業黑莓宣布，由于同屬加拿大的保險集團Fairfax未能籌措到足夠資金，黑莓將放棄與后者達成的47億美元出售協議。 ????黑莓同時還宣布解雇首席執行官托斯騰?海因斯，同時發行可轉換債券融資10億美元，其中Fairefax將購買2.5億美元。這實際標志著出售黑莓的議案已告一段落。債券為期7年，票面利率為6%，在黑莓股價達到10美元時可選擇轉換為普通流通股。（比黑莓上周五收盤時股價高出28.7%——不過本周一隨著壞消息傳出，黑莓股價再次暴跌。） ????塞貝斯公司（Sybase）前首席執行官程守宗將出任黑莓臨時首席執行官。程守宗還是私募資本公司銀湖資本（Silver Lake）的高級顧問。【銀湖曾打算收購戴爾（Dell），但對黑莓沒表現出過半點興趣。】 ????誠然，許多深陷泥潭的科技公司最終都落得無人問津的地步。即便一些鼎鼎大名的公司也是如此。不過，它們總是向媒體宣稱有許多求購者——直到最后一刻還不忘抓住大家的眼球。黑莓的情況有些不同，迄今為止，鮮有媒體指破它自編自演的這出好戲。讓我們看看下面幾個例子： ????? 路透社（Reuters）：思科（Cisco）、谷歌、SAP探討收購黑莓。 ????? 華爾街日報（WSJ）：聯想接洽黑莓 ????? 紐約時報（NY Times）：高通和瑟伯勒斯考慮聯合收購黑莓 ????? 華爾街日報：黑莓上周與Facebook探討收購可能 ????很多時候，當我致電這些報道中提到的潛在“買家”，聯系這些公司企業發展部門的人，通常會出現下面這樣的對話： ????我：貴公司是否在考慮收購黑莓？ ????他們：沒有。
????我：但有報道稱你們有意收購黑莓，你們對此怎么看？ ????他們：黑莓的人邀請了我們，我們赴會完全是出于禮貌。 ????最明顯的破綻就是，每周都會傳出有某家新的公司有意收購黑莓，但此前傳出有意收購的公司卻再也沒了動靜。更別提Fairfax最初提出的收購案中，居然沒有規定毀約費。 ????我明白，黑莓被收購的報道能帶來很多點擊量，但要到什么時候，編輯對報道真實性的堅持才會壓倒對點擊量的渴求？情況往往是，假如收購案最終成真，反倒不會有什么報道了。（財富中文網） ????譯者：項航???? |
????Well, it looks like Blackberry (BBRY) isn't being acquired by Fairfax Financial. Or by Qualcomm. Or by Cerberus, SAP, Google, Lenovo, Facebook or my Aunt Carol. From what I can tell, they all were equally likely buyers for this generation's version of Palm. ????The Canadian company this morning announced that its $4.7 billion "agreement" with Fairfax is off, after the Canadian insurance conglomerate failed to line up financing. ????In fact, the entire sale attempt is dead – with Blackberry instead tossing CEO Thorsten Heins and agreeing to sell US$1 billion in convertible notes to Fairfax ($250m) and other investors. The debentures have a 7-year term, 6% coupon and are convertible into common stock at a price of US$10 per share (28.7% premium to Friday's closing price – although shares are tanking on the news). ????The new interim CEO will be John Chen, the former Sybase CEO who had been serving as a senior advisor to private equity firm Silver Lake (which, for the record, went all-in for Dell but wouldn't touch Blackberry with a 10-foot keyboard). ????To be sure, lots of struggling tech companies fail to get acquired. Even well-known ones. And, along the way, they often insist to reporters that there are interested suitors-- in a desperate plea for one last bout of attention. What was unusual with Blackberry, however, is how few reporters called the obvious bluff. Just look at this sampling ????? Reuters: Cisco, Google, SAP discussing BlackBerry bids ????? WSJ: Lenovo Approaches BlackBerry ????? NY Times: Qualcomm and Cerberus Join a Bid for BlackBerry ????? WSJ: BlackBerry Met With Facebook Last Week on Potential Bid ????In many of those cases, I called corporate development folks at the possible "buyer." Usually it went like this: ????Me: Are you considering a Blackberry bid? ????Them: No. ????Me: Then what do you make of the reports? ????Them: They asked us to look, so we took the meeting as a courtesy. ????The key tell was how a new suitor was leaked each week, rather than the prior suitor becoming more serious. Not to mention the fact that Fairfax structured its initial "bid" without being required to pay a breakup fee. ????I know that Blackberry acquisition stories generated lots of clicks, but at what point does editorial judgment overwhelm self-interest? If a deal ultimately happens, it will be for scrap. And that was always the case. |
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