The swirl of
potential deal activity around Yahoo Inc. is growing.
围绕雅虎(Yahoo Inc.)上演的并购筹备活动越来越多。
Google Inc. has talked to at least two private-equity firms about
potentially helping them
finance a deal to buy Yahoo's core business, according to a person familiar with the matter. Google and
prospective partners have held early-stage discussions but haven't put together a
formal proposal, the person said.
一位知情人士说,谷歌(Google Inc.)已经同至少两家私募股权投资公司商谈,可能会帮助它们为收购雅虎核心业务融资。据这位人士说,谷歌及其潜在合作伙伴已经举行早期谈判,但还没有形成正式方案。
Google might end up not pursuing a bid, the person added. It is unclear which private-equity firms the Internet search company has talked to.
这位人士还说,谷歌最后可能不会从事竞标。不清楚谷歌已经同哪些私募公司谈过。
The discussions between Google and private-equity firms are the latest indications of growing deal activity around Yahoo. Yahoo's board fired Chief Executive Carol Bartz in September, and the company since has been shopping itself to
potential buyers such as private-equity firms. Yahoo hasn't been able to increase
revenue even as the Internet ad market expands by more than 20%
annually.
谷歌与私募公司的这些谈判再次显示,围绕雅虎展开的并购筹备活动越来越多。雅虎董事会9月份解雇了首席执行长巴尔茨(Carol Bartz),后来又一直在向私募公司等潜在买家推销自己。当互联网广告市场以每年超过20%的步伐扩张的时候,雅虎却一直未能提高收入。
Jack Ma, CEO of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., the China-based Internet company in which Yahoo owns a
roughly 40% stake, recently said he was interested in buying Yahoo, but it was unclear whether he has made a serious move to do so.
阿里巴巴集团(Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.)CEO马云(Jack Ma)最近说他有意收购雅虎,但不清楚他有没有为此而认真采取措施。雅虎持有阿里巴巴约40%的股份。
Any deal tying Google and Yahoo, which are two of the world's biggest Internet companies, would be sure to attract antitrust scrutiny. In 2008,
federal antitrust lawyers in the U.S. thwarted a Web-search
advertisingpartnership between the companies. A year later, Yahoo signed a 10-year search
partnership with Microsoft Corp.
谷歌和雅虎都是世界互联网巨头,如果达成某种交易把这两家公司联结在一起,那么反垄断机构肯定会找上门来。2008年,美国联邦反垄断律师挫败了两家公司在网络搜索广告方面的一项合作。一年过后,雅虎和微软(Microsoft Corp.)签署了一项为期10年的搜索合作协议。
Microsoft is now
considering financing a
potential joint bid for Yahoo by extending loans to its deal partners and buying preferred stock in Yahoo, said people familiar with the matter.
知情人士说,微软目前正在考虑是否通过向合作伙伴贷款来为可能开展的联合竞购融资,同时也在考虑是否收购雅虎的优先股。
The software company has been in discussions about a
potential joint proposal for Yahoo with private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, people familiar with the matter have said. Microsoft's
contribution would likely be several
billion dollars, although the exact
amount hasn't been
decided, the people said.
知情人士说,微软一直在商讨与私募公司Silver Lake Partners、加拿大退休金计划委员会(Canada Pension Plan Investment Board)联合竞购雅虎的可能性。这位人士说,微软可能会出资数十亿美元,但具体数额尚未确定。
Google is interested in selling some
advertising across Yahoo's websites -- something Yahoo largely does on its own today -- according to people familiar with the matter.
知情人士说,谷歌有意销售雅虎旗下网站上的部分广告位。目前这些广告位基本上是雅虎自己在销售。
Any deal involving Google also could yield other opportunities, such as bringing Google's social-networking service Google+ to Yahoo's
audience of nearly 700 million
unique visitors a month, the people said.
知情人士说,如果谷歌参与达成交易,可能还会有其他机会产生,比如把谷歌的社交服务Google+带给雅虎每个月接近7亿的独立访客。
Yahoo also has relationships with many
so-called premium-content publishers such as ABC News, which provides video and other content for Yahoo sites and for which Yahoo currently sells ads. Google is interested in having deeper business relationships with such publishers, one of these people said.
雅虎还跟ABC News等很多"优质内容出版商"有关系,它们为雅虎网站提供视频等内容,目前雅虎出售跟这些内容相关的广告。一位知情人士说,谷歌有意与这类出版机构进一步发展业务关系。
Google's interest in participating in the Yahoo sale talks also could be
partly an attempt to bid up prices and make matters more difficult for competitors such as Microsoft, said a person familiar with the matter.
一位知情人士说,谷歌参与收购雅虎谈判的兴趣,一定程度上可能也是为了抬高价格,给微软等竞争对手增加难度。
Google wants to help sell the ad space across Yahoo sites because Yahoo has struggled to get good prices for it, people familiar with the matter said. Yahoo's display-ad business -- which includes graphical, interactive and video ads -- is a $2
billionannual business.
知情人士说,谷歌希望参与销售雅虎旗下网站上的广告位,是因为雅虎一直很难为这些广告位卖出好价钱。雅虎的展示广告业务(display
advertising,包括图形广告、互动广告和视频广告)年收入有20亿美元。