凯雷集团（Carlyle Group）日前宣布，同意以33亿美元向私募股权公司Hellman & Friedman收购图像公司Getty Images。四年前， Hellman & Friedman以24亿美元将Getty Images私有化，出价较当时Getty的公开市场交易价格溢价 55%。

    下面是我与凯雷董事总经理、即将出任Getty董事的艾略特•美林就这项交易进行的对话：

《财富》（FORTUNE）杂志：这次凯雷的价格比2008年Hellman支付的价格高出了37.5%。为什么今天这家公司的价值增加了这么多？

    美林：Getty当时和现在一直是这个行业的领头羊，拥有极为出色的资产组合。但过去几年它的资产构成确实发生了变化，数字和其他多元化产品大大增加。客户群也更多样化了。这家公司已与2008年时大不一样了。

2008年时凯雷尝试过收购这家公司吗？

    这么说吧，我们对这家公司有非常深入的了解，我们认识（Getty首席执行官）乔纳森•克莱恩已经有很长时间了。

你提到了数字资产规模的扩大。然而现在，谁都可以用谷歌（Google）搜索、盗用数字图像，Getty如何如何生存？

    我们知道总是会存在一定的盗版。但Getty有一套非常成熟的图像识别体系，可以帮助它找出未经授权使用的图像。但与唱片界不同，Getty并不起诉那些盗用图片者。相反，它努力与这些人合作，把他们转变为客户。

    Getty业务的核心是找到企业代理公司和其他需要优质内容的大公司。这些买主绝大多数都是知名企业，不屑于钻法律空子，也不愿意冒风险。

凯雷投资Getty的基本想法是什么？

    两部分。第一，业务持续国际化。我们认为，在这方面我们可以给Getty以帮助，因为凯雷拥有庞大的全球业务覆盖。美国、西欧的数字化发展远远快于像亚洲、中东等其他很多国家，我们预计这些国家将沿着同样的轨道快速增长。

    第二，使用静态图像的数字媒体激增，我们认为这股趋势将延续下去。人们在移动设备上观看的屏幕越来越高端，低分辨率图像将无法再满足需求。

33亿美元是2012年进行的一项金额很大的收购。获得贷款有没有碰到困难？

    如果你看看当今整体的债券市场，你得承认，市场状况已经算是相当不错了。我们已经组织了5家大银行，条款公平。

当年Hellman收购时，Getty股价曾大跌。如今，凯雷是Getty第二大直接出资人。像Getty这样的公司是不是更适合由私募股权公司持有，而不是公开上市？

    我们很高兴成为Getty的出资人，但我也相信有一天，这家公司将再度成为一家非常出色的公开上市公司。或许日后有一些我们感兴趣的战略。

    真正吸引人的是，Getty的两位创始人，也就是乔纳森•卡莱恩和马克•盖蒂，他们和我们一起再次向公司注资。这是相当有力的表态，表明了比任何人都更了解Getty的这两个人对公司的未来有信心。

    译者：早稻米

Getting a clearer picture of today's $3.3 billion buyout.

    The Carlyle Group (CG) today announced that it has agreed to acquire stock imagery company Getty Images for $3.3 billion from fellow private equity firm Hellman & Friedman. The deal comes four years after Hellman & Friedman took the company private for $2.4 billion, a 55% premium to where Getty was trading on the public markets.

    What follows is a conversation I had about the deal with Eliot Merrill, a Carlyle managing director who will serve on the Getty board of directors:

FORTUNE: You're paying a 37.5% premium to what Hellman paid in 2008. Why is the company worth so much more today?

    Merrill: Getty was then and still is a leader in its industry with a tremendous collection of assets. But the makeup of those assets has really changed over the last several years with much more digital and other product diversification. The client base also has diversified. It has evolved into a much different business than it was in 2008.

Did Carlyle try buying it in 2008?

    Let's just say we have very deep knowledge of the company, and have known [Getty CEO] Jonathan Klein for a long time.

You mentioned more digital assets. How does Getty survive when anyone can just use Google to search for, and steal, digital images?

    We're wise enough to the fact that there is always going to be some piracy. But the company has a very sophisticated image recognition system that helps it find when images are being used without its authority. But unlike with music, Getty is not in the business of suing those who violate. It tries to work with them to become customers.

    The core of Getty's business is to find corporate agencies and other large businesses that need premium content. The vast majority of those buyers are in the content and don't want to skirt the law, or fly too close to the sun.

What is Carlyle's basic investment thesis for Getty?

    Two parts. First, the continued globalization of the business. We think we can be helpful to Getty with that because of Carlyle's large global footprint. The digitization curve is much more advanced here and in Western Europe than in a lot of other counties in places like Asia and the Middle East, which we expect to follow the same general glide-path.

    Second, there is a proliferation of digital media that uses still imagery and we don't see that as a trend that's going to stop. The screens people are using to consume media on a mobile basis are getting more sophisticated and having low-resolution images won't do anymore.

$3.3 billion is a pretty large buyout for 2012. Was debt easy to secure?

    If you look at the debt markets in general, you'd have to say they're in pretty good shape. We were able to line up five great banks on terms we think are fair.

Getty was getting pummeled in the stock market when Hellman bought it, and now you're the second straight sponsor to own it. Is Getty one of those companies that's better off being held by private equity rather than by the public?

    We're very happy to have it sponsor owned right now, but I also believe that it could be a very good public company again someday. And maybe there are some strategics would might be interested down the road.

    One of the things that's really attractive is that the two founders -- Jonathan Klein and Mark Getty -- are reinvesting back in the business alongside us. It's a powerful statement that the two people who know the business better than anyone else believe in its future.