阿里巴巴收購(gòu)優(yōu)酷土豆或許是一次雙贏
What may soon be streaming at the Chinese videosite Youku Tudou are tears of relief.
可能很快，中國(guó)視頻網(wǎng)站優(yōu)酷土豆便會(huì)流下如釋重負(fù)的淚水。
Alibaba, China’s biggest e-commerce company, has offered to buy the 82 percent of Youkuthat it doesn’t already own, at a 30 percent premium to the market price. A deal would endYouku’s unprofitable run as a public company and help Alibaba realize its multiscreenstrategy. The move should also create value. Though that bit is most likely an afterthought.
中國(guó)最大的電子商務(wù)企業(yè)阿里巴巴提出購(gòu)買優(yōu)酷余下的82%股份，其出價(jià)高于市價(jià)30%。這宗交易將終止優(yōu)酷作為上市公司的虧損營(yíng)運(yùn)，并有助阿里巴巴實(shí)現(xiàn)多屏戰(zhàn)略。此舉應(yīng)該也能帶來(lái)收入，但這應(yīng)該不是主要目的。
Youku is the dominant force in Chinese online video — effectively the YouTube of the People’sRepublic. Like YouTube, it has never reported a profit. Aside from advertising fees, Youku isnow charging users to watch its best content, but that means giving them something worthwatching.
優(yōu)酷在中國(guó)網(wǎng)絡(luò)視頻中舉足輕重，實(shí)際上如同中國(guó)的YouTube。跟YouTube一樣，優(yōu)酷從未報(bào)告過(guò)盈利。除廣告費(fèi)外，優(yōu)酷目前還向用戶收費(fèi)，收費(fèi)用戶能觀看最精彩的內(nèi)容，但這意味著優(yōu)酷需要為用戶提供有觀看價(jià)值的視頻。
The fees Youku paid for content increased 78 percent over the last year to 744 million renminbi,or about $117 million, in the latest quarter. Larger rivals like Baidu, a search engine that alsoowns an online video site, can swallow those costs with ease. That’s not the case for tinyYouku.
在最近一個(gè)季度，優(yōu)酷在內(nèi)容方面的支出較一年前增加了78%，達(dá)到了7.44億元人民幣(約1.17億美元)。搜索引擎百度也擁有網(wǎng)絡(luò)視頻網(wǎng)站。像百度這種大型競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手，能輕松地承擔(dān)這筆成本，但弱小的優(yōu)酷就不能了。
It may seem petty to consider whether the deal creates value for Alibaba shareholders, but, asit happens, it probably does. The 30 percent premium is worth around $1.2 billion. Yet Youku’sbandwidth costs alone — what it pays for telecoms and data storage — are an annualized $213million. If the data colossus Alibaba can eliminate those, the savings, taxed at Youku’s 15percent rate and capitalized, are worth more than $1.8 billion.
這宗交易能否為阿里巴巴的股東創(chuàng)造價(jià)值?或許考慮這個(gè)問(wèn)題會(huì)顯得很小氣，但這還真有可能發(fā)生。阿里巴巴給出的30%溢價(jià)大約相當(dāng)于12億美元。然而，單單是花在電信企業(yè)和數(shù)據(jù)存儲(chǔ)上的帶寬成本，優(yōu)酷每年的支出便達(dá)到2.13億美元。如果數(shù)據(jù)巨頭阿里巴巴能消除這方面的支出并注入資本(優(yōu)酷需繳納15%的稅款)，便能節(jié)省超過(guò)18億美元。
Beyond that, the benefits of the deal are fairly abstract. Perhaps Alibaba will create a Chineseanswer to Netflix. Perhaps it will sell more video advertising spots to its online merchants.Alibaba and Youku may even be able to use data about shoppers’ online habits to createprogramming relevant to their activities.
除此之外，這宗交易帶來(lái)的收益相當(dāng)抽象。或許阿里巴巴會(huì)創(chuàng)造一個(gè)中國(guó)版的Netflix。或許阿里巴巴會(huì)向網(wǎng)上店鋪推銷更多視頻廣告位。阿里巴巴和優(yōu)酷甚至還可以利用購(gòu)物者上網(wǎng)習(xí)慣的數(shù)據(jù)，制作與用戶活動(dòng)有關(guān)的節(jié)目。
But really, who cares? Youku is less than 3 percent of the combined companies’ market value.And approval is more than likely a given, since almost 60 percent of the shares are held byAlibaba and its supporters, such as Victor Koo, a Youku founder, who will also receive anundisclosed package for staying on as chairman.
不過(guò)說(shuō)真的，誰(shuí)在乎呢?優(yōu)酷占合并后公司市值不足3%。而且阿里巴巴及其支持者持有優(yōu)酷近60%的股份，批準(zhǔn)合并已如探囊取物。支持者就包括優(yōu)酷創(chuàng)始人古永鏘，他將會(huì)收到條款未對(duì)外公布的補(bǔ)償，以換取其留任董事長(zhǎng)。
What may soon be streaming at the Chinese videosite Youku Tudou are tears of relief.
可能很快，中國(guó)視頻網(wǎng)站優(yōu)酷土豆便會(huì)流下如釋重負(fù)的淚水。
Alibaba, China’s biggest e-commerce company, has offered to buy the 82 percent of Youkuthat it doesn’t already own, at a 30 percent premium to the market price. A deal would endYouku’s unprofitable run as a public company and help Alibaba realize its multiscreenstrategy. The move should also create value. Though that bit is most likely an afterthought.
中國(guó)最大的電子商務(wù)企業(yè)阿里巴巴提出購(gòu)買優(yōu)酷余下的82%股份，其出價(jià)高于市價(jià)30%。這宗交易將終止優(yōu)酷作為上市公司的虧損營(yíng)運(yùn)，并有助阿里巴巴實(shí)現(xiàn)多屏戰(zhàn)略。此舉應(yīng)該也能帶來(lái)收入，但這應(yīng)該不是主要目的。
Youku is the dominant force in Chinese online video — effectively the YouTube of the People’sRepublic. Like YouTube, it has never reported a profit. Aside from advertising fees, Youku isnow charging users to watch its best content, but that means giving them something worthwatching.
優(yōu)酷在中國(guó)網(wǎng)絡(luò)視頻中舉足輕重，實(shí)際上如同中國(guó)的YouTube。跟YouTube一樣，優(yōu)酷從未報(bào)告過(guò)盈利。除廣告費(fèi)外，優(yōu)酷目前還向用戶收費(fèi)，收費(fèi)用戶能觀看最精彩的內(nèi)容，但這意味著優(yōu)酷需要為用戶提供有觀看價(jià)值的視頻。
The fees Youku paid for content increased 78 percent over the last year to 744 million renminbi,or about $117 million, in the latest quarter. Larger rivals like Baidu, a search engine that alsoowns an online video site, can swallow those costs with ease. That’s not the case for tinyYouku.
在最近一個(gè)季度，優(yōu)酷在內(nèi)容方面的支出較一年前增加了78%，達(dá)到了7.44億元人民幣(約1.17億美元)。搜索引擎百度也擁有網(wǎng)絡(luò)視頻網(wǎng)站。像百度這種大型競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手，能輕松地承擔(dān)這筆成本，但弱小的優(yōu)酷就不能了。
It may seem petty to consider whether the deal creates value for Alibaba shareholders, but, asit happens, it probably does. The 30 percent premium is worth around $1.2 billion. Yet Youku’sbandwidth costs alone — what it pays for telecoms and data storage — are an annualized $213million. If the data colossus Alibaba can eliminate those, the savings, taxed at Youku’s 15percent rate and capitalized, are worth more than $1.8 billion.
這宗交易能否為阿里巴巴的股東創(chuàng)造價(jià)值?或許考慮這個(gè)問(wèn)題會(huì)顯得很小氣，但這還真有可能發(fā)生。阿里巴巴給出的30%溢價(jià)大約相當(dāng)于12億美元。然而，單單是花在電信企業(yè)和數(shù)據(jù)存儲(chǔ)上的帶寬成本，優(yōu)酷每年的支出便達(dá)到2.13億美元。如果數(shù)據(jù)巨頭阿里巴巴能消除這方面的支出并注入資本(優(yōu)酷需繳納15%的稅款)，便能節(jié)省超過(guò)18億美元。
Beyond that, the benefits of the deal are fairly abstract. Perhaps Alibaba will create a Chineseanswer to Netflix. Perhaps it will sell more video advertising spots to its online merchants.Alibaba and Youku may even be able to use data about shoppers’ online habits to createprogramming relevant to their activities.
除此之外，這宗交易帶來(lái)的收益相當(dāng)抽象。或許阿里巴巴會(huì)創(chuàng)造一個(gè)中國(guó)版的Netflix。或許阿里巴巴會(huì)向網(wǎng)上店鋪推銷更多視頻廣告位。阿里巴巴和優(yōu)酷甚至還可以利用購(gòu)物者上網(wǎng)習(xí)慣的數(shù)據(jù)，制作與用戶活動(dòng)有關(guān)的節(jié)目。
But really, who cares? Youku is less than 3 percent of the combined companies’ market value.And approval is more than likely a given, since almost 60 percent of the shares are held byAlibaba and its supporters, such as Victor Koo, a Youku founder, who will also receive anundisclosed package for staying on as chairman.
不過(guò)說(shuō)真的，誰(shuí)在乎呢?優(yōu)酷占合并后公司市值不足3%。而且阿里巴巴及其支持者持有優(yōu)酷近60%的股份，批準(zhǔn)合并已如探囊取物。支持者就包括優(yōu)酷創(chuàng)始人古永鏘，他將會(huì)收到條款未對(duì)外公布的補(bǔ)償，以換取其留任董事長(zhǎng)。
