丹納?斯塔爾德
????日前,eBay公司宣布,為了擴大其PayPal業(yè)務(wù),同意以2.4億美元的價格收購位于美國硅谷的移動支付服務(wù)提供商Zong。該公司支持客戶通過輸入手機號碼進行支付。2010年初,Zong從瑞士移動廣告解決方案提供商EchoVox分拆后,獲得了2,750萬美元風(fēng)險投資。 ????其中一個投資方是經(jīng)緯創(chuàng)投(Matrix Partners),該公司的合作伙伴丹納?斯塔爾德曾在eBay和PayPal擔(dān)任過高管職位。筆者就此次收購交易采訪了斯塔爾德,以下為經(jīng)過編輯的采訪實錄: ????《財富》: 您在eBay和PayPal的個人經(jīng)歷對收購Zong的這筆交易有多大影響? ????斯塔爾德:我想主要是有兩個方面。首先,我對PayPal的核心資產(chǎn)非常熟悉,正是這一點,讓我對Zong進行了原始投資,因為我很清楚這兩個平臺之間的互補關(guān)系。 ????其次,大約一年以前,我花了很長時間,努力在兩家公司之間牽線搭橋,希望促成它們達成商業(yè)合作關(guān)系。 ????那筆交易最終達成了嗎? ????沒有。類似的討論有時候能促成商業(yè)合作,但有時候卻會導(dǎo)致并購。我想PayPal團隊最終認為,此次交易具有極高的戰(zhàn)略意義,而且他們和Zong團隊之間有著非常強烈的化學(xué)反應(yīng)。所以,他們想下一盤更大的棋。 ????您在PayPal任職期間,有沒有討論過在內(nèi)部創(chuàng)建一個與Zong類似的平臺? ????沒有。其實Zong的業(yè)務(wù)非常復(fù)雜。它與超過250家手機網(wǎng)絡(luò)運營商建立了直接業(yè)務(wù)關(guān)系。我認為PayPal對這一商機非常感興趣,但并不打算親自上陣。 ????你是說,與這些手機運營商建立合作關(guān)系,比開發(fā)底層技術(shù)更困難,對嗎? ????我認為,對大多數(shù)支付企業(yè)來說,的確是這樣的。在支付業(yè)務(wù)方面,這些公司都面臨重重困難,尤其是資金進出業(yè)務(wù)方面的能力明顯不足。而Zong公司在這些方面做得非常出色,我認為這也是PayPal的核心競爭力,雖然這一業(yè)務(wù)目前主要是在銀行和支付平臺中完成。 ????另外一個難題是欺詐與風(fēng)險管理。我在PayPal工作期間曾經(jīng)說過,與其說PayPal是一家支付公司,不如說它是一家風(fēng)險管理公司。 ????對于Zong和它的競爭對手,比如Boku,您是如何加以區(qū)別的? ????競爭是必然的。我認為Boku公司是Zong在美國最大的競爭對手;另外,歐洲也有兩家規(guī)模相當(dāng)?shù)墓荆旱聡腗indMatics公司與法國的Allopass公司。這些公司都勢力強大,但Zong公司擁有最優(yōu)秀的團隊,并且與運營商建立了最直接的關(guān)系,而且,公司還擁有最龐大的支付現(xiàn)金流。 ????如果eBay選擇了其他公司,而不是Zong,會有什么其他計劃嗎? ????首先要說明的一點是,我們的A計劃是建立一家大型的、獨立的、可盈利的支付公司。在談到原始投資時,我的主要觀點是,Zong的業(yè)務(wù)正好填補了PayPal的空白領(lǐng)域;并且,沒有大的支付運營商來競爭。事實上,直到大約2個月前,A計劃依然在被考慮之列。 ????此次交易采用全現(xiàn)金方式。為什么會采取這種方式,而不是股票呢? ????我們根本沒有討論過這種可能性。通過eBay的記錄可以發(fā)現(xiàn),以現(xiàn)金進行交易一直是這家公司的主要方式。 ????在您去年投資的時候,Zong公司的估值是多少? ????這點我不能透露,不過,投資的回報讓大家皆大歡喜。 ????(翻譯 劉進龍) |
????eBay (EBAY) today announced plans to significantly expand the reach of its PayPal unit, by agreeing to acquire a company that lets users make payments by simply entering their mobile phone number. The $240 million cash deal is for Zong, a Silicon Valley company that raised $27.5 million in venture capital after spinning out of Switzerland's EchoVox in early 2010. ????One of those investors was Matrix Partners, whose partner Dana Stalder is a former eBay and PayPal executive. I spent some time discussing the deal with Stadler, and what follows is an edited transcript of our conversation: ????Fortune: How much did your personal history with eBay and PayPal factor into the deal for Zong? ????Stalder: I think in a couple of ways. First, I'm intimately familiar with what PayPal's key assets are, and that led me to make the original investment in Zong because I could see how complementary the two platforms were. ????Second, I facilitated an introduction between the companies about a year ago, and spent time with both parties trying to figure out a commercial relationship. ????Did that commercial deal ever get done? ????No. Those types of discussions sometimes lead to commercial relationships, and sometimes lead to acquisitions. I think the PayPal team ultimately felt that this was so strategic and they had such a strong chemistry with the Zong team, that it made sense to do something bigger. ????When you were with PayPal, was there any discussion of creating a Zong-like platform in-house? ????No. It's really complicated what Zong has done here. It's created direct relationships with more than 250 mobile network operators. I think it was viewed by PayPal as a very interesting opportunity, but not one that it wanted to take on itself. ????It sounds like you're saying that creating those mobile operator relationships was more difficult than creating the underlying technology. ????I think that's true for most payment businesses. The payment operations aspect of these companies is extremely hard, particularly for the funds-in/funds-out capabilities. It's something Zong has done very well, and I think is also a core competency of PayPal, although they do it primarily with banks and payment processors. ????Another major piece of this is fraud and risk management. When I was still with PayPal, I used to say that it was more a risk management company than a payment company. ????How do you differentiate Zong from a rival like Boku? ????There is certainly competition. I think Boku is the most-known competition here in the U.S., but there are two companies in Europe of roughly equal scale: in MindMatics Germany and Allopass France. All of these companies are formidable, but Zong has built the best team with the most direct relationships with carriers and the most converting payment flows in the business. ????If eBay had picked one of those other companies over Zong, what was Plan B? ????To be clear, Plan A was to build a very big, stand-alone profitable payment company. When I was talking about the original investment, my main point was that Zong was clearly in PayPal's white space and there wasn't competition from big payment operators. But Plan A was in place until probably around two months ago. ????This is an all-cash deal. How did you get that instead of stock? ????It's not even a discussion we had. eBay has a track record of doing its transactions largely in cash. ????What was Zong's valuation when you invested last year? ????I can't disclose that, but can say we're happy with the return. |
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