85亿美元：微软天价收购Skype的内幕
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2009年9月，银湖合伙公司（Silver Lake Partners）和风投机构安德里森霍洛维茨公司从eBay手里买下了Skype。在eBay旗下的几年间，Skype就好比是科技公司界的科特•柯本（1967—1994，美国已故著名摇滚歌手——译注），虽然广受欢迎，但是一直麻烦缠身。这起交易的价格为27.5亿美元。 2011年五月，银湖合伙公司和安德里森霍洛维茨公司宣布，他们将Skype卖给了微软（Microsoft），交易价格是85亿美金。 厉害！不到两年的时间就赚了60亿美元。 在许多人看来，Skype的高价出售、职业社交网站LinkedIn的IPO反响火爆，再加上Facebook等私营企业的天价估值，这些现象都证明了新一轮科技泡沫正在迅速发酵。Skype在2010年亏损了700万美元，2009更是巨亏4.18亿美元。若不是有泡沫，这样一家亏损的企业，怎么可能可以这样高的价格出售？究竟是什么原因导致Skype市值在短短两年里涨了近三倍？ 在背后运作这起交易的几位高管近日接受了《财富》杂志（Fortune）的独家专访，披露了交易背后一些鲜为人知的故事。比如为了使Skype从一个小众的网络电话服务，变成一个精密复杂且日益壮大的音频和视频通讯应用，他们都做出了哪些战略和战术上的举措。其实Skype本身早已有上市的计划，Skype背后的投资人也相信Skype一定能凭自己的力量茁壮成长。安德里森霍洛维茨公司的创始人马克•安德里森说道：“我们有时还幻想过叫停甚至破坏这笔交意。当然这笔交易让我很兴奋，不过即便它最终流产了，我也同样兴奋。” eBay一直想把Skype整合到它的拍卖网站里去，结果却差强人意。要想对Skype进行大修，首先要过的是Skype的创始人——瑞典人尼古拉斯•曾斯特姆和丹麦人乔纳斯•弗里斯这一关，因为Skype的基础架构软件的版权在他们二人手里。没有这项知识产权，就没有办法充分释放Skype的潜力。问题是，自从eBay收购了Skype后，他们俩就淡出了Skype，而且也不愿意把他们的发明卖给下一拨收购Skype的人。事实上，当年银湖合伙公司刚一提出收购要约，曾斯特姆和弗里斯就把参与交易的各方统统告上了法庭。 负责这笔交易的是银湖合伙公司的埃根•德班，他意识到光靠自己可能搞不定这些创始人，于是他又拉上了马克•安德里森。安德里森本人就是一位科技公司的创始人，他创办了网景（Netscape）和Opsware，同时还是Facebook的董事会成员。此外他也是新生代科技企业家眼中的导师。在安德里森看来，Skype是一块璞玉，一家有史以来少数能产生网络效应的科技公司之一。 安德里森同意从他的风投公司中拿出5，000万美元，参与银湖对Skype的收购，因为他大胆地相信，他和德班最终一定会赢得那两位创始人的信任。果不其然，曾斯特姆和弗里斯最终同意接受新所有制结构中14%的股权，作为交换，他俩把所有的知识产权都还给了Skype。在软件产权得到保证后，投资人们开始对Skype进行改造。德班表示，这两年里他差不多把一半的时间都花在了跟Skype有关的事务上，重点放在为Skype引入新的管理层。他和安德里森不动声色地把Skype的30名高层管理人员换掉了29名。（而在最近与微软的交易结束之前，Skype又开除了8名高管，这样一来，这8名高管将损失高达上百万美元的期权支出。这8名高管的离职曾引起了不小的轰动。）Skype是家由风投资助的私有公司，拜此身份所赐，Skype才得以将它的编程人员扩编了一倍，并且在硅谷建了一座新的办公楼。 在这支新管理团队的领导下，Skype马力全开，几乎每4到6个星期就会推出新版本的Skype，以及一些附加功能。此外Skype也进入了智能手机应用等重要的新业务领域，而Skype还被嵌入了电视和游戏机等消费性产品里，并与Facebook和威瑞森（Verizon Wireless）等建立了合作关系。德班表示：“与Facebook的合作关系非常重要。当然与运营商的合作也很重要，他们以前一向当我们是敌人。威瑞森是世界上最大的运营商之一，与威瑞森的合作标志着它与我们不再是敌对关系，相反会支持我们的发展。” 事实上，Skype算是在一夜之间成了通讯革命的受益者。在2009年和2010年，iPhone、iPad和各种安卓设备的热卖使移动运营商们意识到，他们最有可利可图的业务并不是传统的语音电话，而是提供数据服务。因此他们开始把像Skype这样的应用视作一种资产，因为它可以推动智能手机以及各种昂贵的数据方案的销量。 到2010年秋天，也就是德班和安德里森收购Skype一年之后，Skype的用户人数已经从一年前的4亿增长到了6亿，而且其视频通话功能的使用率也在上升。但是Skype仍然需要一位能带领公司上市的CEO。（约什•西尔弗曼自从eBay时代就是Skype的CEO了，直到去年仍然留任）于是德班联系了时任思科（Cisco）高级主管的托尼•贝茨。他们在一起谈了三个小时，话题当然是围绕着Skype。 接下来贝茨与马克•安德里森的会面才是重头戏。贝茨说道：“我一直很仰慕他，但是之前从未见过他。步入安德里森霍洛维茨公司的办公室的感觉很奇妙，他们的大厅里有一座非常好的图书馆，我在里面找了找几本对我来说有特殊意义的书。其中一本是威廉•吉布森的《精神漫游者》（Neuromancer），但是没能找到。但这给我们的谈话开了个好头。” 贝茨是个英国人，有着很深的科技背景和大公司的管理经验。工程师们往往恃才傲物，固执己见，而贝茨却能与派驻全球各地的工程师们进行争锋相对的争论，这样的高管为数不多。德班称，要找像贝茨这样的人才，称得上是“大海捞针”。贝茨于2010年10月加盟Skype，而Skype也推迟了它的IPO，从而给予贝茨足够的时间，使公司得以进一步的发展。 当时这些高管们并未料到，延期进行IPO反而对Skype有利：到2011年初，Skype已经在发展新的赢利方式，例如把Skype视频通话接通前的呼叫时间当成广告位，卖给广告商们。高管们也开始谈论视频业务，并且开始策划推动Skype上市。当时微软的财务总监彼得•克莱因也对Skype的成就多有耳闻，于是在今年四月与德班进行了接洽。微软的手机软件业务还处在襁褓阶段，正是四处物色强援的时候。微软将Skype视作音频和视频电话的潜在合作伙伴。而且微软的Xbox游戏平台是通过宽带连接的，微软认为Skype对Xbox的发展大有裨益。 德班开玩笑地将这笔交易比作嫁女儿。当问到谈判的细节时，安德里森却不寻常地沉默了起来。而微软也拒绝让克莱因接受采访。不过显然微软之所以报出高价，并不是为了在价格上打败另一个意向买家，而是要避免Skype上市，所以它报出的价格必须要高出Skype的上市估值。对于德班、安德里森和贝茨而言，85亿美元的现金实在太诱人了，让人难以拒绝。到目前为止，美国反垄断官员已经非正式同意了这项交易，欧盟的批准手续还没正式下来。 那么，微软报出的收购价是不是太高了，从而导致了新的科技泡沫？微软发言人弗兰克•肖把这起交易与2007年的一起交易进行了比较，当时微软斥资2.4亿美元收购Facebook1.6%的股份。据报道，最近Facebook的市值已涨至800亿美元，这样看来，微软所购得的那1.6%的股份如今已价值13亿美元。他表示：“历史并不总是重复的，但人们对这两桩交易的看法却有些相似之处。” 显然，微软买到的Skype是一个快速增长、定位准确的全球性资产，而且有着无与伦比的品牌。不过2005年eBay斥资26亿美元买下Skype的时候，恐怕也是这样想的。因此问题的关键在于这种资产应该如何管理，以及是否能将它与现有的产品和服务进行整合。eBay在这两方面都干砸了。如果微软也重蹈eBay的覆辙，那么或许我们以后要以另一个题目续写这个故事了——或者几年之后又会出现这个故事的翻版。 本文作者凯文•梅尼是即将上市的新书《两秒钟优势：预测未来，走向成功》（The Two-Second Advantage: How We Succeed by Anticipating the Future ... Just Enough）一书的作者。 译者：朴成奎 |
In September 2009, Silver Lake Partners and venture firm Andreessen-Horowitz bought Skype from eBay, where it had become the Kurt Cobain of technology companies (wildly popular, deeply troubled). The value of that deal: $2.75 billion. In May 2011 the new owners announced that they were selling the company to Microsoft for $8.5 billion. Voilà! Six billion bucks in less than two years. For many, the Skype deal is seen -- along with exuberance for the LinkedIn IPO and sky-high private valuations of companies such as Facebook -- as a sign of a fast-inflating technology bubble: What else could explain such a lofty price tag for a company that lost $7 million in 2010 and $418 million the year before? What could have changed in just two years to make Skype nearly three times as valuable? A lot, according to the executives behind the transaction, who spoke with Fortune exclusively about the strategic and tactical moves they made to transform the company from a quirky Internet phone service into a sophisticated and growing voice and video communications app. Indeed, Skype had long-standing plans to go public, and its backers felt sure it would have thrived on its own. "We have occasional fantasies of calling up [Microsoft] and torpedoing the deal," quips Marc Andreessen, founder of Andreessen-Horowitz. "I'm thrilled with the deal but would be equally thrilled if it fell apart." The key to fixing Skype, which eBay (EBAY) struggled to integrate into its auction site, was to win over the company's mercurial founders, Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, who actually owned the rights to the software underlying the service -- without that intellectual property, it would be impossible to unleash Skype's potential. The problem: The two had been pushed aside after the eBay acquisition and had no intention of throwing a bone to the next guys who wanted to buy their invention. In fact, the moment Silver Lake floated a buyout offer, Zennström, a Swede, and Friis, a Dane, sued all the parties involved. Egon Durban, the Silver Lake partner who was leading the transaction, realized he needed help with the founders. Enter Andreessen, himself a founder (Netscape, Opsware), an eBay and Facebook board member, and a guru to a new generation of tech entrepreneurs. To Andreessen, Skype was a potential gem -- one of the few great network-effect tech companies ever created. Andreessen agreed to invest $50 million of his venture firm's money in the deal on the bold assumption that he and Durban ultimately would win the founders' trust. He assumed correctly: Zennström and Friis accepted a 14% stake in the new ownership structure in exchange for giving all the IP back to Skype. With Skype's software rights secured, the investors went into turnaround mode. Durban, who says he spent about half his time over two years on Skype matters, focused on bringing in new management. He and Andreessen quietly changed out 29 of Skype's 30 top managers. (In contrast, the recent firing of eight executives before the closing of the Microsoft (MSFT) deal -- they'll lose their chance at million-dollar payouts -- caused quite a stir.) Thanks to its status as a venture-backed company with options to grant, Skype was able to double its engineering ranks and open a Skype facility in Silicon Valley. The new team furiously started spitting out added features and new versions of Skype every four to six weeks, and dove into significant new businesses, including smartphone apps, deals to embed Skype in consumer products like TVs and game consoles, and partnerships with Facebook and Verizon Wireless (VZ). "The Facebook partnership was critical," Durban says. "And the partnerships with carriers -- they had thought of us as an enemy. Getting Verizon signed up signaled that one of the world's largest carriers was not at war with us but was supportive." In fact, Skype was suddenly surfing tectonic shifts in communications. The wave of iPhones and iPads and Androids in 2009 and 2010 pushed wireless carriers to the realization that their most profitable business would be providing data services, not voice calls, and they came to see apps such as Skype as assets that would help drive sales of smartphones and pricey data plans. By the fall of 2010, just a year after the buyout, Skype was surging: Users had climbed to 600 million from about 400 million a year earlier -- and it saw rising usage of its video calling services. But it needed a CEO who could take the company public. (Josh Silverman, who was the CEO of Skype when it was a unit of eBay, had stayed on.) Durban contacted Tony Bates, a senior executive at Cisco (CSCO). They talked for nearly three hours -- on Skype, naturally. The clincher was Bates's meeting with Andreessen. "I'd always been a big admirer but had never met him," Bates says. "Going into the Andreessen-Horowitz office was an experience. They have this wonderful library in the lobby, and I looked for a couple of books that were special to me. One was Neuromancer, by William Gibson. I couldn't find it, so that became a good opening to the conversation." Bates, a Brit with a deep technical background and big-company chops, was perhaps one of the few executives -- "a needle in a haystack," Durban calls him -- who could wrangle strong-willed engineers spread across half the globe. He joined in October 2010, and Skype postponed its IPO, which gave Bates time to get the company into better shape. Little did the executives know the delay would work in their favor: By early 2011, Skype was developing new ways to make money, including selling advertisers airtime during Skype video calls. Executives started talking up the video business -- and a forthcoming IPO. Peter Klein, Microsoft's chief financial officer, had been hearing the chatter and reached out to Durban in April. Microsoft, which had been looking for ways to bolster its fledgling efforts in mobile-phone software, saw Skype as a potential partner for voice and video calls; it also saw the software as an interesting way to enhance its broadband-connected Xbox gaming platform. Durban, who jokingly likens the deal to marrying off one of his daughters, and Andreessen are uncharacteristically mum when it comes to the juicy details of the negotiations, and Microsoft declined to make Klein available for the story, but clearly Microsoft was bidding not against another buyer but against the valuation Skype expected to secure from its public offering. For Durban, Andreessen, and Bates, $8.5 billion in cash was an offer too good to refuse. So far U.S. antitrust officials have signed off on the deal, and European Union approval is pending. So did Microsoft overpay for Skype, contributing to a new tech bubble? Spokesman Frank Shaw likens the deal to Microsoft's $240 million investment for a 1.6% stake in Facebook in 2007 -- now worth roughly $1.3 billion based on reports that put Facebook's value at about $80 billion. "History doesn't always repeat," he says, "but there are similarities in terms of what people are saying about the Skype deal." Certainly Microsoft will be buying a fast-growing, well-positioned global asset with an unbeatable brand. But that's what eBay thought when it bought Skype in 2005 for $2.6 billion. The devil is in how that asset is managed, and whether it can integrate with existing products and services. eBay blew it on both counts. If Microsoft does the same, we could wind up writing this story again with different names -- or maybe some of the same ones -- a few years from now. --Kevin Maney is co-author of the upcoming book The Two-Second Advantage: How We Succeed by Anticipating the Future ... Just Enough. |
