谷歌全球收购狂砸300亿美元，哪些公司有望中大奖？

    互联网巨头谷歌（Google）已经打开了它的支票本，准备拿出300亿美元进行海外并购。谷歌已经把目光投向无人驾驶汽车和未来互联网眼镜领域，那么，它可能的收购对象会是谁？

    谷歌近期向美国证券交易委员会（the Securities and Exchange Commission）提交的文件显示，它计划利用大部分境外资金进行海外并购。通过进行海外投资，谷歌可以避免支付在美高达35%的公司税。

    说到并购，谷歌的选择可谓无穷无尽。投行Oppenheimer公司分析师贾森•赫福斯顿表示，通过查看谷歌业务的明显漏洞或过去曾尝试收购的公司，或许可以发现它的宏伟计划。

    “他们对最终的并购目标有着非常广泛的考虑，”赫福斯顿表示。数据是核心要素， “他们最终会用到数据。”

    谷歌蹒跚不前、投资不足和希望充实的三个主要领域分别是：社交网络、支付业务和云服务。

    超越Google+

    谷歌在以消费者为导向的收购中战绩辉煌，其中就包括视频网站YouTube和安卓操作系统（Android）。MasterCFO创始人、《并购完全手册》（The Complete M&A Handbook）一书的作者汤姆•陶利表示，谷歌还能在总部位于比利时的音乐流服务企业Spotify身上取得类似的成绩。

    Spotify提供内置社交网络，而这正是谷歌努力争取推动力的领域。Spotify的全球用户数量超过1,000万，能够让谷歌在社交领域的野心——目前仅限于Google+——搭上顺风车。

    “G+及其在社交领域付出的所有努力已经走到了尽头，”陶利指出，“这是谷歌的巨大漏洞和缺口。”

    如果谷歌想要与苹果（Apple）（AAPL -0.69%）及其近期30亿美元收购音频设备制造商和音乐流服务公司Beats的计划相抗衡，收购一家音乐服务公司对谷歌来说具有决定性意义。

    砸钱搞数据

    赫福斯顿表示，支付业务披露各种有关消费者和商业的重要情报，如购买目标和购买地点，这是谷歌多年来一直希望进入的领域。谷歌已经推出了谷歌电子钱包（Google Wallet）支付服务，但是它或许希望收购增强公司能力的海外支付公司，以此实现公司的扩张。收购价值甚至可能相当于前述利润。

    赫福斯顿表示，“谷歌很乐意在不盈利的基础上运营上述业务中的某一项业务，收集所有数据。”之后，它可以在现有业务中使用数据，实现大量信息的盈利。

    云连接

    为了向小型企业、政府和知名企业提供服务，谷歌可能选择超越消费者层面，把目光投向海外的云服务公司。

    “欧洲人常常抱怨，只有美国擅长云空间，”市场分析机构Recon Analytics公司创始人罗杰•埃特纳表示，“使大量服务器靠近客户不无道理。距离更近，一切变得更快。他们已经就此采取行动，未来还将加大工作力度。”

    谷歌还表示计划对数据中心等海外基础设施投资40亿美元。收购位于欧洲的小型云服务公司可以对这项投资形成补充，而且有助于谷歌向需求庞大的欧洲市场提供云服务。

    “他们应该对云连接的一切事物感兴趣，”埃特纳说。“云服务可以帮助他们改进产品。”（财富中文网）

    译者：乔树静/汪皓

    Google GOOG -1.06% has its checkbook open, and it’s ready to dole out as much as $30 billion to buy companies overseas. What could the Internet giant possibly buy, considering it’s already working on everything from driverless cars to futuristic Internet eyeglasses?

    Google has said it plans to use most of its offshore funds to make acquisitions abroad, according to a recent letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission. By keeping its huge money pot overseas Google can avoid paying U.S. corporate taxes on the cash. Those taxes are as high as 35%.

    When it comes to acquisitions, Google’s options are nearly endless. Looking at the obvious holes in its business, or even what the company has tried to go after in the past, may reveal the company’s grand plans, said Jason Helfstein, an analyst with Oppenheimer.

    “They have a very broad view of what their ultimate purpose is,” said Helfstein. It’s the data that’s central, he added, and it “is ultimately what they’re going to use.”

    There are three main areas where the company has faltered – or is still under-invested – and may want to beef up: social, payments and cloud services.

    Building Beyond Google+

    Google has had a lot of success with its consumer-focused acquisitions, including YouTube and Android. It could find similar success with Belgium-based music streaming service Spotify, said Tom Taulli, founder of MasterCFO and author of “The Complete M&A Handbook.”

    Spotify comes with a built-in social network, an area in which Google has struggled to gain much traction. With over 10 million global subscribers, Spotify could give Google’s social ambitions – so far limited to Google+ – a big lift.

    “It’s been crickets for G+ and all their efforts on the social side,” Taulli said. “It’s been a big hole; a big gap in Google.”

    Buying a music service is also critical for Google if it wants to compete against Apple AAPL -0.69% and its recent $3 billion acquisition of Beats, the audio equipment maker and music streaming service.

    Buying Its Way to Data

    The payments business, which reveals all sorts of valuable information about consumers and businesses, such as what they buy and where they shop, is an area Google has wanted to enter for years, said Helfstein. The company already has the Google Wallet payment service, but it likely wants to expand by buying foreign payment companies that would bolster Google’s capabilities. The value may even be worth foregoing profits.

    “It would be happy to run one of these businesses, make no money and collect all the data,” said Helfstein. It could then monetize the reams of information by using it within its current businesses.

    Cloud Connections

    Google may choose to look beyond the consumer towards cloud-focused companies abroad, in a bid to build its offerings for small businesses, governments and big-name corporations

    “The Europeans are really lamenting that only the U.S. is really good in the cloud space,” said Roger Enter, founder of Recon Analytics. “It would make sense to put a lot of the servers closer to their clients. Move closer and everything gets faster. They’ve done that already and they’re going to do it more.”

    Google has also said it plans to spend as much as $4 billion on infrastructure abroad, including data centers, and investing in a smaller, European-based cloud company could complement that investment and help Google deliver its cloud services to a European market that is hungry for more.

    “For them, everything that connects, they should be interested in,” Enter said. “It helps them improve their product.”