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雅虎梅耶爾到了危機(jī)時(shí)刻

梅耶爾承認(rèn)雅虎遇到挑戰(zhàn)復(fù)興大計(jì)前景渺茫

雅虎對(duì)于激進(jìn)投資者的言論可謂是言聽計(jì)從。

早前，對(duì)沖基金Starboard Value曾建議雅虎停止出售其阿里巴巴和雅虎日本股份的計(jì)劃，并銷售其核心業(yè)務(wù)。如今，雅虎董事會(huì)竟真的在考慮此事了。

據(jù)CNBC報(bào)道，雅虎不會(huì)再考慮將阿里巴巴的股權(quán)分拆成為一家獨(dú)立公司，而是考慮有關(guān)其門戶業(yè)務(wù)的其他交易選項(xiàng)。至于其搜索引擎和門戶頻道在內(nèi)的核心資產(chǎn)，到底是變賣還是分拆成一家獨(dú)立運(yùn)營(yíng)和上市的公司，目前不得而知。

如果公司出售了雅虎核心業(yè)務(wù)，那么雅虎股份就失去了經(jīng)營(yíng)性公司的支撐。股東將持有的是一部分阿里巴巴的股份、一部分雅虎日本的股份，以及約50億美元的現(xiàn)金。

人們廣泛認(rèn)為，這家21歲的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)公司可以以50億-60億美元（不計(jì)留存現(xiàn)金）的價(jià)格出售給私募股權(quán)公司，但實(shí)際上，股東們?cè)缇驼J(rèn)為公司已經(jīng)一文不值。在人們心目中，雅虎已是一位步履蹣跚、步入暮年的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)巨人，一旦上述交易發(fā)生，它將為雅虎畫上句號(hào)。

在過(guò)去十年，雅虎幾乎嘗遍了所有辦法來(lái)回歸增長(zhǎng)：它啟用了一位媒體行業(yè)的首席執(zhí)行官（特瑞?瑟莫爾）、一位回歸的創(chuàng)始人（楊致遠(yuǎn)）、口氣強(qiáng)硬的成本削減者（卡羅爾?巴茨）、一位首席技術(shù)官（斯科特?湯普森），以及一位產(chǎn)品夢(mèng)想家（梅麗莎?梅耶）。然而，所有的努力都以失敗告終。

私募股權(quán)可能是最后可行的手段。雅虎核心業(yè)務(wù)2014年的運(yùn)營(yíng)現(xiàn)金流達(dá)到了近9億美元，仍在全球網(wǎng)站中排名第五。行業(yè)觀察家曾呼吁梅耶削減更多成本，裁減更多員工。然而，她卻反其道而行之，收購(gòu)了50家公司，在昂貴的內(nèi)容交易領(lǐng)域做出了虧錢的投資。不過(guò)，削減成本倒是私募股權(quán)公司的專長(zhǎng)。

然而，有以下幾個(gè)重要方面值得注意：私募股權(quán)公司并不擅長(zhǎng)讓消費(fèi)者互聯(lián)網(wǎng)公司起死回生。它們倒是有一批精通“六西格瑪”企業(yè)管理戰(zhàn)略的隊(duì)伍，這些人對(duì)于如何去削減成本并開展精益運(yùn)營(yíng)了如指掌，但卻并不知道如何開發(fā)出人們喜聞樂(lè)見的新型創(chuàng)新產(chǎn)品。

在我的記憶中，倒是有一個(gè)大型消費(fèi)者互聯(lián)網(wǎng)公司的成功收購(gòu)案例。它就是Skype。2009年，Silver Lake Partners從eBay手里收購(gòu)了這家公司，然后兩年后以三倍的價(jià)格賣給了微軟。參與這項(xiàng)交易的有一家名為Andreessen Horowitz的風(fēng)投公司，eBay自身在這家公司也擁有少數(shù)股份。因此，這種帶有私募股權(quán)背景的消費(fèi)者網(wǎng)站東山再起的案例很少見，但也并非不可能。

另一個(gè)值得注意的地方是債務(wù)：大型收購(gòu)交易很難為其債務(wù)找到買家。鑒于雅虎的營(yíng)收在不斷萎縮，而且面臨信用評(píng)級(jí)繼續(xù)下調(diào)的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，它的債務(wù)就更難處置了。盡管與戴爾670億美元收購(gòu)EMC的天價(jià)相比，雅虎50億-60億美元的收購(gòu)價(jià)格可能算不了什么，但也會(huì)讓金融買家們猶豫不決。

當(dāng)然，私募股權(quán)也并非就是唯一的最后出路。戰(zhàn)略收購(gòu)公司，例如Comcast、AT&T和Verizon，可能也看到了雅虎資產(chǎn)的價(jià)值。Verizon已表示有意收購(gòu)這家步履蹣跚、年事已高的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)巨頭。此前，Verizon僅以40億美元的價(jià)格收購(gòu)了美國(guó)在線公司。美國(guó)在線曾一度達(dá)到1640億美元的市值峰值，但那又如何呢？（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：馮豐

校對(duì)：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.