博通試圖敵意收購高通
Broadcom turned its $130bn takeover offer for Qualcomm into a full-blown hostile bid yesterday after it proposed ousting the entire board of its rival chipmaker in an effort to win the biggest technology deal in history.
博通(Broadcom)昨日將其1300億美元收購高通(Qualcomm)的要約變成了徹頭徹尾的敵意收購，此前博通爲了贏得這筆史上最大規模的科技業交易而提議驅逐高通整個董事會。The Singapore-based group presented 11 directors to replace the entire board of the world’s largest maker of smartphone chips, putting in motion what is likely to be a heated proxy fight.
這家總部位於新加坡的集團提名11名董事來取代世界最大智能手機芯片製造商的整個董事會，這一動議很可能引發一場激烈的代理人戰爭。Broadcom’s move comes after the Qualcomm board rejected its $70-a-share offer — of which $60 is in cash — because it undervalued its business and presented “significant regulatory uncertainty”.
此前，高通董事會拒絕了博通提出的每股70美元的報價（其中60美元爲現金），理由是博通低估了高通的業務，並帶來“顯著的監管不確定性”。
Changing the target’s entire slate of directors is one necessary condition for winning a hostile takeover, but not the only one: satisfying shareholder concerns on price and regulatory risks is also needed. Since 2010, 57 per cent of global hostile takeover approaches have failed, according to Dealogic.
撤換收購目標全體董事，是贏得敵意收購的必要條件之一，但並不是唯一的條件：還需要打消股東對價格和監管風險的擔憂。據Dealogic的數據顯示，自2010年以來，全球57%的敵意收購企圖都以失敗告終。Qualcomm said Broadcom’s nominees were “inherently conflicted, given Broadcom’s desire to acquire Qualcomm in a manner that dramatically undervalues” the chipmaker.
高通表示，“鑑於博通打算以嚴重低估高通的方式收購高通”，其提名的候選人“存在固有的衝突”。The San Diego-based company is set to argue that it has a strong and fresh board whose members have an average tenure below that of S&P 500 companies, in part due to the addition of three directors at the instigation of activist investor Jana Partners in 2015.
這家總部位於加州聖迭戈的公司肯定會辯稱，它擁有強勁而有活力的董事會，其董事會成員的平均任期低於標普500企業的平均水平——部分是因爲維權投資機構加納夥伴基金(Jana Partners)於2015年推動3名新董事加入了董事會。Broadcom said it planned to nominate nine men and two women to be Qualcomm directors at the company’s annual meeting on March 6. It added it supported the reappointment of the three directors backed by Jana and would seek to enlarge the board’s size.
博通表示，計劃在明年3月6日舉行的高通年會上提名9名男性和2名女性擔任該公司的董事。它補充稱，它支持加納推舉的3名董事連任，並將尋求擴大董事會規模。A deal would be the latest in a wave of consolidation in the industry and would create a market leader in chips for -everything from mobile phones to new- generation electric vehicles.
該交易將是該行業合併潮中最新的一筆交易，將締造芯片（用於從手機到新一代電動汽車等衆多產品）行業的市場領頭羊。
People close to Qualcomm’s management have dismissed Broadcom’s approach as an opportunistic attempt to capitalise on current weaknesses. Qualcomm has been in a protracted legal battle with a big customer, Apple, and has been struggling to close its $39bn takeover of rival NXP Semiconductors.
接近高通管理層的知情人士對博通的做法不屑一顧，稱其爲試圖利用高通當前股價疲軟的投機行爲。高通目前正處於與大客戶蘋果(Apple)曠日持久的法律訴訟之中，同時正在努力完成以390億美元收購競爭對手恩智浦半導體公司(NXP Semiconductors)的交易。Qualcomm believes that once it settles those matters it will be able to grow at a faster pace. It also believes it is positioned to benefit from the introduction of 5G, a new wireless standard. Those factors would also lift its stock, which, at about $65, is below Broadcom’s offer.
高通認爲，一旦解決了這些問題，它將會以更快的速度增長。它還認爲自己將受益於全新無線通信標準5G的引入。這些因素都會提振其股價；目前65美元左右的股價低於博通的報價。
