賣給中資是利盟最佳出路 Lexmark China
Chinese companies have yet to sate their appetites for foreign cuisine. Nor are their tastes limited to the haute. Yesterday came news that Lexmark, the US maker of printers and business software, will sell itself to a consortium of Chinese companies. The buyers, including Shenzhen listed Apex Technology and a venture capital arm of Hong Kong listed Legend Holdings, will pay $3.6bn in cash, a 17 per cent premium to the previous close.
中國企業對異鄉美食的胃口尚未滿足，他們的品味也不僅限於豪華大餐。昨日傳出消息稱，美國打印機和商業軟件廠商利盟(Lexmark)將被一個由中國企業組成的財團買下。買家包括深圳上市的艾派克科技(Apex Technology)，以及香港上市的聯想控股(Legend Holdings)旗下的風險投資部門，他們將支付36億美元現金，相對於前一日的收盤價有17%的溢價。
Lexmark is not junk food but is the sort of meal that requires time in the microwave to be palatable. Its shares have drifted sideways for a decade. With revenues of $3.5bn, it has less than 5 per cent of a market that it estimates at $68bn.
利盟不算是垃圾食品，但仍是那種需要放入微波爐轉一轉才能入口的餐食。其股價10年來基本止步不前。35億美元的營收意味着，它在自己估計規模爲680億美元的市場只有不到5%的佔有率。
And it plays in an industry where size matters. Hewlett-Packard has printer sales nearly 6 times as large. Its $3.5bn research and development budget equals Lexmark’s top line and was more than 10 times the $330m the smaller company could afford last year.
而在它所處的行業，規模很重要。惠普(Hewlett-Packard)的打印機銷量幾乎達到利盟的6倍。其35億美元的研發預算與利盟的營收相當，並且是利盟去年3.3億美元研發預算的10倍多。
Developing new products is critical. While printer supplies have historically been the bulk of revenues, these are threatened as mobile devices replace printouts as a way to read documents. The growth outlook is tough.
開發新產品是至關重要的。雖然打印機耗材歷來是營收中的大頭，但隨着人們轉向用移動設備代替打印件閱讀文件，這塊業務面臨威脅。增長前景不容樂觀。
So Lexmark has been investing in its nascent business — document management software. It estimates the market at $12bn but with greater growth potential than printing. Lexmark’s progress in this highly fragmented market has been slow and mostly based on acquisitions that are costly to integrate. Here, too, the company has just 4 per cent market share.
因此，利盟近年投資於其新開闢的業務——文件管理軟件。它估計這個市場的規模達到120億美元，但增長潛力大於打印市場。利盟在這個高度分散的市場進展緩慢，而且多數是基於併購，整合成本較高。該公司在這個市場也只有4%的份額。
To offset the costs of growing by acquisition Lexmark has had to cut costs, laying off workers in its printer division. In 2013 it sold its ink-jet division, also to a Chinese buyer.
爲了抵消通過收購實現增長的成本，利盟不得不削減成本，在其打印機部門進行裁員。該公司在2013年向中國買家出售了噴墨打印機部門。
Despite these efforts, a strategic review has concluded that the company’s best option is to sell. Management sees no better alternative. Shareholders should follow their lead while Chinese buyers are still hungry.
儘管有這些努力，一項戰略評估仍得出這樣的結論：該公司的最佳選擇是把自己賣掉。管理層找不到更好的選擇。趁着中國買家還沒吃飽，股東應該聽從他們的意見。
