雅虎如何使用回售阿里巴巴股權所得現金?大綱

Yahoo Inc. said Thursday it could reverse its May decision to return more than $4 billion to shareHolders from selling part of its stake in a Chinese Internet company, a signal that new Chief Executive Marissa Mayer may want to use the cash for other purposes.

雅虎(Yahoo Inc.)週四說，該公司可能調整5月份做出的將回售一家中國互聯網公司部分股權所得的逾40億美元返還給股東的決定。這暗示出新任首席執行長梅耶爾(Marissa Mayer)可能希望將這筆現金轉做他用。

Yahoo's statement, contained in a regulatory filing signed by Chief Financial Officer Tim Morse, sent the Sunnyvale, Calif., company's shares down 3.5% in after-hours trading to $16.17.

雅虎的聲明令該公司股價在盤後交易時段下跌3.5%，至每股16.17美元。聲明包含在一份提交給監管機構的備案文件中，文件上有首席財務長莫爾斯(Tim Morse)的簽名。

In May, Mr. Morse helped engineer the sale of part of Yahoo's stake in Chinese Web company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. He said on a July 17 earnings call with analysts that Yahoo's board was committed to returning the proceeds from the Alibaba sale to shareholders, though the company hadn't determined the form or timing of such an action.

今年5月，莫爾斯參與籌劃了回售雅虎在中國網絡公司阿里巴巴集團(Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.)所持部分股權的交易。他在7月17日與分析師召開的收益電話會議上說，雅虎董事會承諾將回售阿里巴巴股權的所得返還給股東，不過公司尚未確定返還的形式及時間。

On Thursday, Yahoo said in the filing it may change its prior decisions because Ms. Mayer, who was hired three weeks ago, is reviewing the company's strategy.

雅虎週四在備案文件中說，該公司可能改變此前的決定，因爲梅耶爾正在對雅虎的戰略進行評估。梅耶爾三週前受聘擔任雅虎首席執行長。

Ms. Mayer's 'review process may lead to a reevaluation of, or changes to, our current plans, including our restructuring plan, our share repurchase program, and our previously announced plans for returning to shareholders substantially all of the after tax cash proceeds' from the sale of Yahoo's stake in Alibaba.

文件中說，梅耶爾的評估過程可能導致我們現有計劃的重估或改變，包括我們的重組計劃、股權回購計劃以及此前宣佈的將回售雅虎在阿里巴巴股權的大部分稅後現金所得返還給股東的計劃。

Anne Espiritu, a Yahoo spokeswoman, said in a statement that Ms. Mayer is 'carrying out a careful review of the company's business' and is looking at 'potential strategy changes to Yahoo's current plans' along with fellow Yahoo directors. She declined to elaborate.

雅虎發言人埃斯皮裏圖(Anne Espiritu)在一份聲明中說，梅耶爾正在與其他雅虎董事一起對公司的業務進行仔細評估，並考慮對公司現有計劃進行可能的戰略調整，但她拒絕詳細說明。

Joseph Grundfest, a law professor at Stanford University who is an expert on corporate governance, said that 'management can, for entirely legitimate reasons, change its mind as long as it hasn't made a binding commitment' to return the cash to shareholders.

斯坦福大學(Stanford University)法學教授、公司治理專家格倫德費斯特(Joseph Grundfest)說，只要尚未就向股東返還現金一事做出具有法律約束力的承諾，如果有完全合理的理由，管理層就可以改變主意。

The potential about-face in Yahoo's spending plans falls in line with Ms. Mayer's technology-heavy background, ThinkEquity analyst Ron Josey said, but it still caught some investors by surprise.

ThinkEquity的分析師喬西(Ron Josey)說，雅虎支出計劃可能出現的大調整符合梅耶爾的技術背景，但仍讓一些投資者感到意外。

He noted a lot of shareholders bought the stock thinking that Yahoo was going to start a multibillion-dollar buyback plan that would help lift the stock's near-term value.

他指出，很多股東之所以買進雅虎股票，是因爲他們認爲雅虎將開始一項數十億美元的回購計劃，有助於在近期內提振雅虎的股價。

For years, the vast majority of Yahoo's market valuation has been tied to its stakes in Asian Web companies Alibaba and Yahoo Japan. Investors have placed little value on Yahoo's core business, which generates around $5 billion in revenue annually, mainly from selling online advertising.

多年來，雅虎市值的絕大部分都來自於其在亞洲網絡公司阿里巴巴和雅虎日本(Yahoo Japan)的持股。投資者認爲雅虎的核心業務價值並不高。雅虎核心業務每年實現營收約50億美元，主要來自在線廣告業務。

Yahoo currently has around $2 billion in cash, and Ms. Mayer already has shown signs she is willing to spend substantial sums to turn around the struggling Internet company.

雅虎目前約有現金20億美元，梅耶爾已經顯示出願意花大筆資金將這家陷入困境的互聯網公司扭虧爲盈的跡象。

'She didn't come here to wind the company down,' Mr. Josey said. 'She came here to restore Yahoo to what it used to be.'

喬西說，她來這裏並不是要任由雅虎走下坡路，而是要使雅虎重振往日的雄風。

She has told colleagues she is interested in hiring or acquiring new talent and products through acquisitions, among other things, and possibly investing in Yahoo's advertising technology, according to people briefed on the matter.

據瞭解情況的人士說，她對同事們說，她有興趣通過收購獲得新的人才和產品，並可能投資在雅虎的廣告技術上進行投資。

'For someone who's thinking about a growth strategy, of course you should maintain as much cash on the balance sheet as possible, maybe for acquisitions,' said Mark Mahaney, a stock analyst at Citigroup Inc.

花旗集團(Citigroup Inc.)的股市分析師馬漢尼(Mark Mahaney)說，對於一個考慮增長戰略的人來說，當然應該儘可能地將現金留在資產負債表上，或許可以用於收購。