中國互聯網企業緣何紛紛休戰結盟
Two years ago, Neil Shen, head of Sequoia China, attempted to broker a marriage between two of the internet companies in which he was invested and Dianping Holdings. His efforts came as both were burning through cash as they spent heavily to gain customers and market share in businesses which partially overlapped. At that time, Mr Shen did not succeed.
兩年前，紅杉中國(Sequoia China)掌舵人沈南鵬(Neil Shen)曾嘗試撮合他投資的兩家互聯網企業美團()與大衆點評(Dianping Holdings)聯姻。那時，兩家公司都在燒錢，投入大筆資金在部分重疊的業務上爭奪客戶和市場份額。那一次，沈南鵬沒有成功。
This month, however, the war between the two groups, which are both in the business of delivering food and offering discounts at restaurants among other things, was called off and Meituan and Dianping agreed to combine.
但在本月，美團和大衆點評同意合併，它們之間的戰爭被叫停了。除了其他業務，美團和大衆點評都在提供送餐和餐飲折扣服務。
The deal, worth up to $20bn, was just the latest in a series of mergers between Chinese competitors who have decided often with the forcible intervention of their investors that they had more to gain by joining forces.
這筆價值高達200億美元的交易，只是中國競爭對手之間一系列合併案（經常涉及投資人的強力干預）中的最新一筆。這些企業已意識到，結盟會帶來更大收益。
“In this case one plus one will equal three or four,” says Mr Shen.
“在這種情況下，一加一將等於三或四，”沈南鵬說。
“Consolidation is the best way to maximise returns,” adds Bao Fan, whose Beijing-based Chinese Renaissance advisory and banking boutique advised both companies. “Everything is a function of the supply of capital.”
“整合是實現回報最大化的最佳途徑，”爲美團和大衆點評都提供諮詢的華興資本(Chinese Renaissance)的掌舵人包凡補充說。“一切都是資本供應的函數。”華興資本是一家位於北京的諮詢機構和精品投行。
This year is becoming the banner year for mergers in the sector. According to Mergermarket, there have been 267 Chinese technology mergers worth $32bn so far this year, compared with 338 deals worth $26bn for all of 2014.
今年將成爲互聯網企業合併的標誌性年份。Mergermarket的數據顯示，今年迄今，中國發生了267起科技企業合併案，交易額達320億美元，而2014年全年合併案爲338起，交易額爲260億美元。
As the flow of money into these companies slows, valuations have ceased their gravity-defying ascent and investors have begun to enforce greater discipline on their portfolio companies, despite objections from some of the founding entrepreneurs.
隨着流入互聯網企業的資金放慢，貌似不受地心引力作用的估值已停止上升，投資人開始對被投資企業施加更嚴格的約束，儘管這遇到了一些企業創始人的反對。
Investment firms such as Sequoia and Tiger Global have drastically reduced the money they are putting into the Chinese internet sector in recent months and have warned the companies in which they invest that if they are too greedy they will not be able to raise money at higher valuations in the future, people familiar with the matter say.
知情人士表示，近幾個月，紅杉資本(Sequoia Capital)和老虎環球基金(Tiger Global)等投資機構已大幅減少了對中國互聯網行業的投入，並向被投資企業發出警告：如果它們過於貪婪，那麼它們未來將不能以較高估值獲得融資。
Both the trend toward consolidation and the resistance to it on the part of many entrepreneurs reflect an environment that bears little resemblance to that of the US, even as many Chinese internet companies now challenge their American counterparts in valuation and exceed them in scale.
行業整合趨勢，以及許多企業創始人對該趨勢的抵制，都表明中國的環境跟美國沒有相似之處，儘管許多中國互聯網企業如今開始在估值上挑戰美國同行，在規模上超過後者。
In the US, start-ups “tend to begin life with original business models, the winners tend to emerge early”, said Mr Fan. In China, where most start-ups tend to be modelled on an overseas template, “there are many more players, and consolidation takes place over time”, he said.
包凡說，在美國，初創企業“通常靠着原創的商業模式起步，勝者傾向於較早涌現”。他說，在多數初創企業通常拷貝海外模板的中國，“參與者更多，隨着時間的推移必然走向整合”。
But that means egos are at stake and negotiations can become personal. At times the ill-feeling has become so pronounced that investors sometimes require their unruly entrepreneurs to sign non-disparagement agreements.
但這意味着創始人的虛榮心可能發作，談判可能走上“往心裏去”的歧路。有時怨恨成爲太大的妨礙，以致投資者要求難搞的創業者簽署非貶低(non-disparagement)協議。
Ctrip and Qunar, the great rivals in the online travel business, finally agreed to merge earlier this week, in a $15bn tie-up.
作爲在線旅遊業務的兩大對手，攜程(Ctrip)和去哪兒(Qunar)終於同意合併，合併後估值達150億美元。
But a slowing of outside funding may change things now. Analysts widely expect online travel companies and auto rental firms to either merge with each other or with companies in related spaces. Likely candidates include search engine companies such as Baidu or for the taxi booking firms such as Didi Kuaidi. The goal would be to preserve cash and migrate to different, more value-added business models.
但如今，外部融資放慢或許會改變局面。分析師普遍預計，在線旅遊企業和租車公司或者彼此合併，或者跟相關行業公司合併。可能合併的企業包括，百度(Baidu)等搜索引擎企業，或者滴滴快的(Didi Kuaidi)等出租車叫車企業。目標將是保存現金，過渡到不同的、附加值更大的商業模式。
In addition, business models in China tend to be fluid, which can make for shifting alliances. What could be seen as conflicts of interest elsewhere in the world occur with frequency in the mainland.
此外，中國的商業模式經常變化很快，可能導致聯盟關係洗牌。在世界其他地區可能被看作利益衝突的事情，在中國大陸經常發生。
Internet group Alibaba is both the third-biggest investor in Meituan, which is primarily a group buying site, and one of its biggest rivals now.
互聯網集團阿里巴巴(Alibaba)既是美團（主要是一家團購網站）的第三大股東，如今也是美團最大的競爭對手之一。
But the two were not in direct competition at the time the larger group made its investment. And there may be even more bitter rivalry to come. Meituan plans to go from selling film tickets to the film distribution business. Such a step could lead to a face-off against Alibaba’s Ali Pictures in the future.
但是，當阿里巴巴入股美團時，兩者並未處於直接競爭之中。未來，兩者之間或許會發生更激烈的競爭。美團計劃從銷售電影票拓展到影片發行。此舉可能導致美團在未來與阿里影業(Ali Pictures)發生衝突。
Similarly, Mr Shen invested in VIP Shop when it didn’t compete with , another Sequoia investment. Today, however, the two are bitter rivals.
類似地，沈南鵬投資唯品會(Vipshop)時，唯品會並未與京東()競爭。京東也是紅杉中國的投資對象。但如今，唯品會和京東發生了激烈競爭。
