美國媒體公司擬收購并分拆時(shí)代公司

Meredith Corporation is exploring a break-up of Time Inc that would include shedding some of its best-known titles, including Time magazine and Sports Illustrated, once it acquires the 95-year-old publisher in a $2.8bn deal unveiled yesterday.

根據(jù)昨日宣布的28億美元交易，Meredith Corporation將收購已有95年歷史的出版商時(shí)代公司(Time Inc)。一旦完成該交易，Meredith將探索分拆時(shí)代公司，包括剝離其旗下最知名的一些品牌，如《時(shí)代》雜志和《體育畫報(bào)》(Sports Illustrated)。

People briefed about Meredith’s plans said there would also be “significant jobs cuts” at Time Inc after the companies are combined as part of a cost-cutting plan reached with the Koch brothers, the conservative US billionaires who are minority investors in the takeover.

據(jù)了解Meredith這一計(jì)劃的人士表示，在兩家公司合并后，時(shí)代公司將“大量裁員”。這是與科赫兄弟(Koch brothers)達(dá)成的成本削減計(jì)劃的一部分，這對保守的美國億萬富翁是此次收購的少數(shù)投資者。

Among those who have expressed interest in Time assets in recent months are David Pecker, publisher of the National Enquirer tabloid and a close ally of President Donald Trump; a team including Seagram scion Edgar Bronfman Jr and Len Blavatnik, the billionaire former owner of Warner Music Group; and Jimmy Finkelstein, owner of the political publication The Hill.

最近幾個(gè)月對時(shí)代資產(chǎn)表現(xiàn)出興趣的人還有小報(bào)《國家問詢報(bào)》(National Enquirer)的出版人、美國總統(tǒng)唐納德•特朗普(Donald Trump)的親密盟友戴維•派克(David Pecker);Seagram后人小埃德加•布朗夫曼(Edgar Bronfman Jr)與前華納音樂集團(tuán)(Warner Music Group)所有者、億萬富翁萊恩•布拉瓦特尼克(Len Blavatnik)組成的團(tuán)隊(duì);以及政治刊物《國會山報(bào)》(The Hill)的所有者吉米•芬克爾斯坦(Jimmy Finkelstein)。

Although Charles and David Koch, who backed the deal with $650m in preferred equity, will not have any editorial or operational influence on Meredith’s titles or seats on its board, the cost-cutting plan is part of a strategy to work with the publisher to ensure they get a good return on their investment, a person close to the family said.

查爾斯•科赫(Charles Koch)和大衛(wèi)•科赫(David Koch)以6.5億美元優(yōu)先股的形式參與了這筆交易。據(jù)一位熟悉科赫家族的人士表示，雖然他們不會對Meredith的出版物或董事會席位有任何采編或運(yùn)營影響力，但成本削減計(jì)劃是與該出版商合作的戰(zhàn)略的一部分，以確保他們獲得良好的投資回報(bào)。

“For them [the Koch brothers] this is a smart bet, a pure financial investment. They don’t want to run magazines but they agreed to back the deal because Meredith has shown them a sound plan that includes significant job cuts,” said one of the people briefed on Meredith’s takeover strategy.

一位了解Meredith收購戰(zhàn)略的人士表示：“對于他們(科赫兄弟)來說，這是一個(gè)明智的賭注，一筆純粹的金融投資。他們不想經(jīng)營雜志，但他們同意支持這筆交易，因?yàn)镸eredith向他們展示了一個(gè)包括大量裁員在內(nèi)的穩(wěn)妥計(jì)劃。”

Steve Lombardo, a spokesman for Koch Industries, described the investment as “passive”, adding: “We’re basically acting as a bank here.”

科氏工業(yè)集團(tuán)(Koch Industries)發(fā)言人史蒂夫•倫巴多(Steve Lombardo)稱，這是一筆“被動的”投資，并表示：“我們基本上在其中起到一家銀行的作用。”