邁克?戴爾：要么開(kāi)口，要么下課
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????自從戴爾公司（Dell）1月宣布它將接受公司創(chuàng)始人兼首席執(zhí)行官邁克?戴爾244億美元的收購(gòu)要約后，很多人已就此事發(fā)表了高見(jiàn)。公司兩個(gè)最大的外部股東已站出來(lái)反對(duì)該收購(gòu)，稱(chēng)每股13.65美元的價(jià)格“與合理價(jià)格相去太遠(yuǎn)”。一些沒(méi)有介入此事的私募股權(quán)公司高管則對(duì)小股東銀湖合伙基金（Silver Lake Partners）幫助達(dá)成此項(xiàng)交易贊譽(yù)有加，并預(yù)測(cè)它將幫助江河日下的戴爾重振旗鼓。 ????但在一片紛擾中，唯一的一位我們很少聽(tīng)到聲音的人卻是邁克?戴爾本人。除了在官方聲明中做過(guò)一些靦腆的表態(tài)外，這位公司的首席執(zhí)行官早已淡出了公眾視線(xiàn)。這種狀況亟需改變。 ????邁克?戴爾應(yīng)該向股東作出解釋?zhuān)瑸槭裁撮L(zhǎng)期來(lái)看，如果本次收購(gòu)被拒，戴爾的股票不會(huì)高于每股13.65美元。同時(shí)，最重要的一點(diǎn)是，他應(yīng)該向大家說(shuō)明，為什么戴爾成為一家私有公司后，它的股價(jià)最終會(huì)超過(guò)13.65美元（這是邁克?戴爾必須堅(jiān)信的一點(diǎn)，除非他是有史以來(lái)第一個(gè)費(fèi)勁九牛二虎之力，只是要把公司做得不賺不賠的收購(gòu)者）。 ????通常一家公司被私有化后，管理層往往會(huì)發(fā)生變動(dòng)。但在這樁交易中不會(huì)發(fā)生這種情況，因?yàn)殂y湖合伙基金就算想趕走邁克?戴爾（另一家原本打算出價(jià)的公司就是因此才望而卻步），它也沒(méi)有這樣的實(shí)力。 ????所以不管怎么說(shuō)，邁克?戴爾還是執(zhí)掌大局的人。私有化之后，上市公司所不能做的哪些事情就可以開(kāi)綠燈了呢？ ????這是一個(gè)非常嚴(yán)肅的問(wèn)題。因?yàn)閺睦碚撚^(guān)點(diǎn)看，這個(gè)問(wèn)題的答案似乎是絕不能為所欲為。許多上市公司的首席執(zhí)行官會(huì)制定長(zhǎng)期戰(zhàn)略規(guī)劃，并告訴華爾街，他們有信心達(dá)成市場(chǎng)的季度預(yù)期。比如亞馬遜公司（Amazon）的杰夫?貝索斯和彭尼公司（J.C. Penney）的羅恩?約翰遜。實(shí)際上，法律規(guī)定，上市公司不得發(fā)布季報(bào)指南，也不能召開(kāi)分析師電話(huà)會(huì)議。對(duì)這類(lèi)公司的首席執(zhí)行官來(lái)說(shuō)，如果他們能把時(shí)間更好地用在如何管好業(yè)務(wù)上，也就不需要經(jīng)常和對(duì)沖基金或共同基金經(jīng)理碰頭。 ????再者，戴爾的財(cái)務(wù)業(yè)績(jī)還是屬于上市公司范疇——這是該公司積累的可交易債券的副產(chǎn)品。邁克?戴爾還對(duì)董事會(huì)表示，不管是哪家私募基金公司，只要愿意出最高價(jià)，他就愿意與之合作。所以，現(xiàn)在對(duì)他來(lái)說(shuō)，要說(shuō)明為什么最后選了銀湖也是個(gè)難題。 ????也有人認(rèn)為，邁克?戴爾之所以想把戴爾私有化，與其說(shuō)和戰(zhàn)略有關(guān)，不如說(shuō)和他的個(gè)性有關(guān)。他的臉皮比貝索斯和約翰遜都薄，所以在上市公司里沒(méi)法如魚(yú)得水。 |
????Ever since Dell Inc. announced in January that it had accepted a $24.4 billion buyout offer from founder and CEO Michael Dell, plenty of people have voiced their opinions. The company's two largest outside shareholders have come out in opposition, calling the $13.65 per share price "completely out of proportion to what's reasonable." Some uninvolved private equity executives have lauded minority investor Silver Lake Partners for helping to put the deal together, and predicted that it will help revive the company's flagging fortunes. ????The one person we really haven't heard much from, however, is Michael Dell himself. Save for a few milquetoast statements in the official announcement, the company's CEO has been absent from the public eye. This needs to change. ????Michael Dell should explain to shareholders why Dell (DELL) stock won't be worth more than $13.65 per share, in the long term, if the buyout offer is rejected. And, part and parcel, he should explain why Dell stock eventually will be worth more than $13.65 per share as a private company (something Michael Dell must believe, unless he is the first acquirer in history who strives to break even). ????Often when a company is taken private, the transition is accompanied by a management change. But that won't be the case here, as Silver Lake Partners wouldn't have enough clout to fire Michael Dell if it wanted to (something that scared off another potential bidder). ????So Michael Dell is in charge either way. What will being private enable him to do that being public precludes? ????This is a very serious question because, from a theoretical perspective, the answer would seem to be nothing. Plenty of public company CEOs set out long-term strategic plans, and tell Wall Street that they do not worry much about meeting quarterly expectations. Examples include Jeff Bezos of Amazon (AMZN) and Ron Johnson of J.C. Penney (JCP). In fact, public companies aren't even legally required to issue quarterly guidance or hold analyst calls. And their CEOs needn't meet regularly with hedge fund or mutual fund managers, if their time could be better spent running the business. ????Moreover, Dell's financial results will remain in the public domain – a byproduct of all of the tradable debt it is accumulating. Michael Dell also told Dell's board that he would partner with whatever private equity firm was willing to pay the highest price, so it would be difficult for him to argue that the differentiator is Silver Lake. ????Some have suggested that Michael Dell's desire to take Dell private is more about personality than it is about strategy. His skin is thinner than that of a Bezos or Johnson, and thus cannot perform as effectively in a public company. |
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