雅虎和梅丽莎·梅耶的最后出路
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相关文章： 雅虎对于激进投资者的言论可谓是言听计从。 早前，对冲基金Starboard Value曾建议雅虎停止出售其阿里巴巴和雅虎日本股份的计划，并销售其核心业务。如今，雅虎董事会竟真的在考虑此事了。 据CNBC报道，雅虎不会再考虑将阿里巴巴的股权分拆成为一家独立公司，而是考虑有关其门户业务的其他交易选项。至于其搜索引擎和门户频道在内的核心资产，到底是变卖还是分拆成一家独立运营和上市的公司，目前不得而知。 如果公司出售了雅虎核心业务，那么雅虎股份就失去了经营性公司的支撑。股东将持有的是一部分阿里巴巴的股份、一部分雅虎日本的股份，以及约50亿美元的现金。 人们广泛认为，这家21岁的互联网公司可以以50亿-60亿美元（不计留存现金）的价格出售给私募股权公司，但实际上，股东们早就认为公司已经一文不值。在人们心目中，雅虎已是一位步履蹒跚、步入暮年的互联网巨人，一旦上述交易发生，它将为雅虎画上句号。 在过去十年，雅虎几乎尝遍了所有办法来回归增长：它启用了一位媒体行业的首席执行官（特瑞•瑟莫尔）、一位回归的创始人（杨致远）、口气强硬的成本削减者（卡罗尔•巴茨）、一位首席技术官（斯科特•汤普森），以及一位产品梦想家（梅丽莎•梅耶）。然而，所有的努力都以失败告终。 私募股权可能是最后可行的手段。雅虎核心业务2014年的运营现金流达到了近9亿美元，仍在全球网站中排名第五。行业观察家曾呼吁梅耶削减更多成本，裁减更多员工。然而，她却反其道而行之，收购了50家公司，在昂贵的内容交易领域做出了亏钱的投资。不过，削减成本倒是私募股权公司的专长。 然而，有以下几个重要方面值得注意：私募股权公司并不擅长让消费者互联网公司起死回生。它们倒是有一批精通“六西格玛”企业管理战略的队伍，这些人对于如何去削减成本并开展精益运营了如指掌，但却并不知道如何开发出人们喜闻乐见的新型创新产品。 在我的记忆中，倒是有一个大型消费者互联网公司的成功收购案例。它就是Skype。2009年，Silver Lake Partners从eBay手里收购了这家公司，然后两年后以三倍的价格卖给了微软。参与这项交易的有一家名为Andreessen Horowitz的风投公司，eBay自身在这家公司也拥有少数股份。因此，这种带有私募股权背景的消费者网站东山再起的案例很少见，但也并非不可能。 另一个值得注意的地方是债务：大型收购交易很难为其债务找到买家。鉴于雅虎的营收在不断萎缩，而且面临信用评级继续下调的风险，它的债务就更难处置了。尽管与戴尔670亿美元收购EMC的天价相比，雅虎50亿-60亿美元的收购价格可能算不了什么，但也会让金融买家们犹豫不决。 当然，私募股权也并非就是唯一的最后出路。战略收购公司，例如Comcast、AT&T和Verizon，可能也看到了雅虎资产的价值。Verizon已表示有意收购这家步履蹒跚、年事已高的互联网巨头。此前，Verizon仅以40亿美元的价格收购了美国在线公司。美国在线曾一度达到1640亿美元的市值峰值，但那又如何呢？（财富中文网） 译者：冯丰 校对：詹妮 |
When activist investors say jump, Yahoo jumps. Just a week after Starboard Value recommended that Yahoo stop the planned spin-off of its Alibaba and Yahoo Japan shares and sell its core business, Yahoo’s board is considering exactly that, according to reports. Yahoo has reversed its decision to spin off its huge stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba into a separate company and is instead considering selling its core business, according to CNBC. If “core Yahoo” sold, Yahoo stock would consist of no operating company. Shareholders would own some Alibaba stock, some Yahoo Japan stock, and around $5 billion in cash. The loudest speculation is that the 21-year-old Internet property, which shareholders now value at less than nothing, could be sold to a private equity firm for between $5 billion and $6 billion range (net of cash on hand). But if a deal happens, it would mean the end of Yahoo as we know it: a struggling, aging Internet giant. Over the last decade, Yahoo has tried just about every possible approach to return to growth: It tried a media CEO (Terry Semel), a returning founder (Jerry Yang), a tough-talking cost-cutter (Carol Bartz), a CTO (Scott Thompson), and a product visionary (Marissa Mayer). None have worked out. But private equity could be a viable last resort. “Core Yahoo” had nearly $900 million in operating cash flow last year, and remains the fifth-largest website in the world. Industry watchers have called on Mayer to cut more costs and lay off more employees, but instead she’s acquired 50 companies and made money-losing investments in expensive content deals. Cutting costs, on the other hand, is private equity’s specialty. There are a few big catches, however: Private equity isn’t known for turning around consumer Internet properties. They have armies of Six Sigma ninjas that know how to cut costs and run lean operations, but they don’t know how to dream up new, innovative products that people will love. There’s only one large consumer Internet buyout I can think of, and it was a big success: Skype, which Silver Lake Partners bought from eBay in 2009 and sold to Microsoft two years later for three times its money. That included the involvement of a venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, with eBay itself retaining a minority stake. So a PE-backed consumer Web turnaround is rare, but not impossible. The other big catch is the debt: big buyout deals are having a hard time finding buyers for their debt. With shrinking revenue and threats that its credit rating will be cut further, Yahoo debt would be even harder to place. A $5 billion to $6 billion deal doesn’t compare to Dell’s crazy $67 billion buyout of EMC, but it may give financial buyers pause. Private equity isn’t the only last resort. Strategic buyers like Comcast, AT&T and Verizon, may also see value in the asset. Verizon already has shown interest in snapping up struggling old-Internet stalwarts, having earlier this year acquired AOL, worth $164 billion at its peak, for just $4 billion. |
