分拆索尼不容易
????索尼公司(Sony)的暢銷電視品牌Bravia的意思是“兇猛、野蠻、狂野、野性十足的”。當(dāng)索尼的高管考慮來(lái)自國(guó)外的最新收購(gòu)要約時(shí),他們的腦海中很可能就涌現(xiàn)出這些形容詞。這種收購(gòu)對(duì)日本中規(guī)中矩的商業(yè)規(guī)則造成了很大沖擊。 ????最近到底是哪家海外機(jī)構(gòu)這么大膽,敢對(duì)日本公司下手呢?原來(lái)是美國(guó)的一家對(duì)沖基金。作為索尼最大的股東之一,它提出索尼應(yīng)該剝離20%的娛樂(lè)業(yè)務(wù),同時(shí)借助他們的基金重整旗鼓,大力發(fā)展目前業(yè)績(jī)不佳的電子消費(fèi)品業(yè)務(wù)。這家基金公司就是Third Point。5月14日,該公司CEO丹尼爾?勒布在《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》(New York Times)上首度發(fā)表了一封致索尼總裁平井一夫的公開(kāi)信。信中建議,索尼應(yīng)將自己的搖錢樹(shù)——娛樂(lè)業(yè)務(wù)的15%到20%分拆上市。多年以來(lái),分析師們一直認(rèn)為這種建議哪怕不是那么勢(shì)在必行,也非常合理。受此刺激,索尼的股票應(yīng)聲上漲。 ????不過(guò)奇怪的是,日本方面對(duì)此并無(wú)回應(yīng)。索尼只是發(fā)布了一份簡(jiǎn)短的聲明,彬彬有禮地回絕了這一提議??紤]到勒布先生對(duì)索尼有很大的控股權(quán)——他的基金擁有6400萬(wàn)股索尼股票,相當(dāng)于該公司6.5%的股權(quán),索尼這種反應(yīng)就不免讓人覺(jué)得有點(diǎn)驚訝了。平井在該聲明中稱:“娛樂(lè)業(yè)務(wù)對(duì)索尼實(shí)現(xiàn)增長(zhǎng)至關(guān)重要,不會(huì)出售?!?/p> ????聲明結(jié)尾寫道:“我們希望在推行自己戰(zhàn)略的進(jìn)程中,繼續(xù)與股東進(jìn)行建設(shè)性對(duì)話。”鑒于日本長(zhǎng)期以來(lái)不會(huì)容忍任何股東耍心眼,尤其是對(duì)那些一心想抓住機(jī)會(huì)大賺一票的外國(guó)股東更不例外,我們建議這個(gè)結(jié)尾最好寫成“只要你們和大多數(shù)日本股東一樣不聲不響,不提過(guò)多要求”。在日本,從來(lái)就沒(méi)有多少人會(huì)積極參與股東維權(quán)活動(dòng)。 ????這并不等于沒(méi)希望了。位于東京的Eurotechnology公司的杰哈德?法索爾表示:“勒布先生的提議確實(shí)來(lái)得有點(diǎn)突然,所以日本方面沒(méi)立即回應(yīng)也并不奇怪。而且平井先生和勒布先生過(guò)去也不常會(huì)晤?!辈贿^(guò)法索爾先生也不清楚勒布到底能在多大程度上心想事成。他說(shuō):“他對(duì)索尼其實(shí)并沒(méi)有那么大的控股權(quán)。畢竟索尼和夏普(Sharp)還不太一樣。索尼沒(méi)有遇到夏普那樣大的問(wèn)題,所以還沒(méi)被逼上絕路?!彼髂嶂荒芗南M谀切┩鈬?guó)攪局者自行消失,就像一直困擾索尼、虧損達(dá)八年之久的電視產(chǎn)品線一樣。 ????不管怎么說(shuō),和外國(guó)股東之間的斗爭(zhēng)到最后幾乎總是對(duì)日本公司有利。六年前,Steel Partners提出了一項(xiàng)收購(gòu)要約,要買下日本著名醬料巨頭Bull-Dog公司90%的股份。這家食品公司請(qǐng)來(lái)了援手,隨后采用了一個(gè)自殺式方案,從美國(guó)人的魔爪下殺出了一條活路。最后,日本法院判定這個(gè)自殺式方案有效。 |
????Sony's best selling TV, the Bravia, translates as "ferocious, savage, wild, untamed" -- the very adjectives that are probably on the minds of Sony executives as they consider the latest bid from gaijin, or outsiders, to upset the highly ordered decorum of doing business in Japan. ????The latest audacity aimed at Japan from beyond its shining seas? A U.S. hedge fund, one of Sony's (SNE) biggest shareholders, has proposed the firm should spin off up to 20% of its entertainment business and use the funds to revive and focus on its struggling electronics arm. In a May 14 letter to Sony President Kazuo Hirai, first published in the New York Times, Daniel Loeb, chief executive of hedge fund Third Point, suggested Sony take 15% to 20% of the entertainment unit, the one that makes Sony money, public. In the light of such counsel, which analysts have for years been calling on as sound if not essential, Sony shares are surging. ????Oddly the reaction in Japan has been muted, with Sony merely issuing a terse statement to politely and gently rebut the advice, although apparently it may have come as a recent surprise that Mr Loeb held such a large control -- his fund owns 64 million Sony shares, which is about a 6.5% stake in Sony. "The entertainment businesses are important contributors to Sony's growth and are not for sale," wrote Hirai in Sony's statement. ????It ends: "We look forward to continuing constructive dialogue with our shareholders as we pursue our strategy." A suggestion, given Japan's long history of not tolerating any shenanigans from shareholders, particularly foreigners with an eye out for the main chance, that would have better ended as "just as long as you are as quiet and undemanding as the average Japanese shareholder." Shareholder activism has never been much of a participating sport in Japan. ????But there is hope. "Mr Loeb's proposal certainly came out of the blue, so I am not surprised that there is no immediate response," says Gerhard Fasol of Tokyo-based Eurotechnology. "And Mr Hirai did meet Mr Loeb which was not always the case in the past." However Mr. Fasol is unsure just how far Mr. Loeb may get. "He does not have that much power over Sony. After all they are not like Sharp ," he says. "They don't have the same problems as Sharp so they don't have a gun to their heads." The hope must be that like the the other Bravia that is plaguing Sony -- its eight years of loss-making TVs -- the foreign meddlers might just disappear. ????Struggles with foreign shareholders have nearly always turned to favor Japanese companies, after all. Just six years ago when Steel Partners launched a tender offer for the 90% of a famous Japanese sauce maker, Bull-Dog, the food firm sought a white knight intervention and then a poison pill to save itself from an aggressive takeover bid from the Americans. Finally, Japanese courts voted in favor of the pill. |
-
熱讀文章
-
熱門視頻