21世纪福克斯（21st Century Fox）周二宣布，公司已撤回对时代华纳（Time Warner）850亿美元的收购要约，取而代之的是一项60亿美元的股票回购计划。在收购提案宣布伊始，21世纪福克斯的股票曾大跌，而时代华纳的股票则应声上涨，看起来默多克对这个结果不太满意。

    我马上想到了三点：

    1. 好戏应该还在后面

    像默多克这样的人物不会仅凭短期股票波动来制定公司的重大战略方针。至于在未来会不会再次提出收购要约或以什么样的价格收购，福克斯在声明中只字未提。要说这次的事只是一种谈判策略，也没什么好大惊小怪的。

    2. 时代华纳想必是坐卧不宁

    在福克斯撤回收购要约之后，时代华纳的股价狂跌，在本文撰写时跌了近12%，至每股仅75美元，相当于近90亿美元的市值蒸发，但这一价格仍高于收购消息泄露之前时代华纳71美元的交易价。然而，这对时代华纳董事会来说却是一个异常沉重的消息：投资者纷纷抢筹的原因在于公司要被默多克收购，而不是公司本身有多么吸引人。不管怎么样，新闻一出，福克斯股票反其道而行之，涨幅超过了8%。

    3. 杰夫•布克斯稳赚不赔

    如果时代华纳首席执行官杰夫•布克斯真的愿与默多克较劲的话，那么局势对他来说还是相当有利的。毕竟，就算输了，他还能拿到近8,000万美元的分手费。（财富中文网）

    译者：翔

    21st Century Fox this afternoon announced that it has withdrawn its $85 billion takeover offer for Time Warner , instead launching a $6 billion stock buyback. Seems that Rupert Murdoch wasn’t too pleased with how his company’s stock price has slumped since the deal was first announced, while Time Warner’s shares had climbed.

    Three immediate thoughts:

    1. This is not the end

    People like Rupert Murdoch do not base massive strategic decisions on short-term stock fluctuations. There is nothing in Fox’s statement that precludes Murdoch from making a future bid, at whatever price. Don’t be surprised if this is just a negotiation ploy.

    2. Time Warner must be spooked

    Time Warner shares are cratering in the aftermarket, down nearly 12% as of this writing to just $75 per share. That’s nearly $9 billion in market cap. It’s still above the $71 or so that it was trading at prior to the Fox bid leaking, but this is a giant message to the Time Warner board that investors were bidding up based on the takeover offer, not the underlying story. Fox stock, for what it’s worth, is going in the opposite direction — up more than 8% on the news.

    3. He can’t lose

    If Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes really is playing poker with Rupert Murdoch, he is in a pretty sweet position. After all, who else can get snookered at the table and walk away with nearly $80 million?