《财富》杂志（Fortune）获悉，雅虎公司（Yahoo）联合创始人杨致远和董事会其他成员已私下告知四家大型私募基金公司，董事会不会支持对公司的整体收购要约。1月4日早上，这一消息进一步得到坐实，因为雅虎宣布，将聘请贝宝公司（PayPal）总裁斯科特•汤普森出任首席执行官一职。

    如今的私募基金公司已不愿意尝试恶意收购，这意味着雅虎董事会的表态可能使这次收购就此告吹。私募公司在收购企业时还喜欢安插自己人担任首席执行官，而汤普森接受这份任命时极有可能向雅虎要求一些保障性条件，确保他不会在公司易主时被扫地出门。

    这四家私募公司是：贝恩资本（Bain Capital），百仕通集团（The Blackstone Group），银湖合伙基金（Silver Lake Partners）和TPG资本（TPG Capital）。贝恩资本和百仕通集团曾与中国的阿里巴巴集团（Alibaba Group）和日本的软银集团（Softbank Corp.）联手推动一项复杂的收购，旨在实质上将雅虎在美国的资产划到这些私募基金公司名下（而阿里巴巴和软银则差点儿接手雅虎在亚洲的资产）。

    此后，阿里巴巴和软银还提出过一个方案，即收购雅虎的亚洲资产，而把雅虎美国的资产放在一边不谈——这一方案价值170亿美元，雅虎董事会正在（慢慢）考虑其可行性。

    如果雅虎的亚洲资产被剥离出去，那么贝恩资本和百仕通集团可以尝试独自收购雅虎的美国资产。据说银湖合伙基金和TPG资本也都对这桩交易颇有兴趣。此前，这两家已提出通过“私募转公募基金”（PIPE，private-into-public-equity）的交易方式购买雅虎的少数股份。

    但是，雅虎再次警告这些私募基金公司别来插手。但是，如果丹•罗卜（对冲基金Third Point公司的首席执行官——译注）能在雅虎的董事会中安插一些他推荐的董事成员，或者如果雅虎的亚洲资产单独出售告吹的话，局面可能会在本月晚些时候为之一变。不过，就目前来看，雅虎的整体出售压根就无从谈起。

    译者：清远

    Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang and other board members have privately told four major private equity firms that the board would not support a takeover offer for the entire company, Fortune has learned. The message was then reinforced this morning, when Yahoo (YHOO) announced that the hiring of PayPal president Scott Thompson as its new CEO.

    Today's private equity firms are loathe to attempt hostile takeovers, meaning that board opposition could be a deal-breaker. They also like to install their own CEOs, and it's unlikely that Thompson would accept the job without some assurances that he wouldn't soon be shown the door by a new owner.

    The four firms are: Bain Capital, The Blackstone Group (BX), Silver Lake Partners and TPG Capital. Bain and Blackstone had originally been working with China's Alibaba Group and Japan's Softbank Corp., on a complicated acquisition that effectively would have left the PE firms with Yahoo's U.S. assets (Alibaba and Softbank would have taken the Asia assets).

    Since then, however, Alibaba and Softbank have also offered to acquire the Asian assets while leaving the U.S. business alone -- a $17 billion proposal that Yahoo's board is (slowly) considering.

    An Asian divestiture could leave Bain and Blackstone trying to buy the U.S. assets solo. Silver Lake and TPG also are said to each be interested in such a deal, after previously having offered to acquire minority stakes in Yahoo via a PIPE (private-into-public-equity) transaction.

    But, again, Yahoo has told each of the private equity firms to back off. This could all change later this month if Dan Loeb is able to get some of his (to be) proposed directors on Yahoo's board, or if the Asia divestiture deal collapses. For now, however, a Yahoo buyout is highly unlikely.