经济学人下载:拆分新闻集团

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Breaking up News Corp
拆分新闻集团

Murdoch does the splits
新闻集团分家，默多克来操刀

Investors like the idea of hiving off the group's newspaper arm
投资者期盼分离新闻集团的新闻出版业务

SHAKESPEARE mused that It is beyond the power of man to bring love and wisdom to an union.
莎士比亚曾写过，爱使人愚笨。人对于喜爱的事物无法做出理智的判断。

News Corporation's shareholders have long agreed, arguing that Rupert Murdoch's love for newsprint has clouded his judgment and tainted his media empire.
新闻集团的股东们长期以来一致认为，鲁伯特·默多克对新闻出版业的钟爱混淆了他的判断力，危害了他的传媒帝国。

The sluggish growth and the legal cases besetting News Corp's publishing arm set it in sharp contrast to the group's robust film and television assets, which account for three-quarters of revenues and almost all operating profit.
新闻集团的出版业务，发展缓慢，官司缠身，和其蓬勃壮大的影视业务一比，相形见绌。当前，集团四分之三的收入和几乎所有的盈利都来源于影视业务。

After months of hinting that it may heed investors and separate the two parts, News Corp's board met on June 27th to approve a split, and was set to confirm its decision as The Economist went to press.
新闻集团将听取投资者的意见，拆分成两家独立的上市公司—这样的暗示流传了数月之久之后，新闻集团的董事会终于在6月27日探讨了拆分的可行性，并定于本期《经济学人》杂志出版之时给出定论。

News that a split was under consideration sent News Corp's share price up by around 10%.
新闻集团打算拆分的消息出来后，该公司的股票价格上涨了约10%。

At over $22, it is now at its highest since 2007.
当前股价涨过22美元每股，为2007年以来的最高水平。

This bolstered the view that dividing the group will boost both companies and reward shareholders.
这无疑有力地支持了新闻集团拆分为两家独立的上市公司对公司和股东都将大有裨益这一观点。

After the phone-hacking scandal at News Corp's British newspaper arm—which is still being investigated by Lord Justice Leveson, a senior judge—the group had to drop its bid for full ownership of BSkyB, a profitable satellite broadcaster; it already owns 39%.
新闻集团旗下的英国报纸闹出电话窃听丑闻之后—上诉法院的高级法官Leveson仍在调查此案—被迫放弃收购效益良好的英国卫星电视运营商BskyB。

Separating the publishing division and giving it a new boss may not be enough to overcome regulatory obstacles to News Corp taking full ownership of BSkyB.
新闻集团已经拥有该公司39%的股份。将出版业务分离出来，指派一个新的管理者，还不足以克服收购BskyB所面临的政策上的障碍，

But it should help protect the entertainment businesses from the scandal's rising legal costs, and at least ward off pressure for News Corp to sell its existing stake.
但却足以保护集团的娱乐业务免受窃听丑闻昂贵的诉讼费用带来的损失，并且顶住压力留住已经持有的BskyB股份。

Besides closing the News of the World in the wake of the hacking scandal, News Corp has recently rid itself of another sour asset, MySpace, and initiated a $10 billion share buy-back.
自窃听丑闻发生以来，新闻集团除了停刊旗下的《世界新闻报》外，近期还卖掉了经营不善的社交网站聚友网，并斥资100亿美元回购集团股份。

Such moves have supported the group's share price and pleased shareholders.
这些买卖交易导致集团股价飙升，股东们自然不亦乐乎。

But splitting the company in two is the ultimate dream of investors, says Michael Nathanson of Nomura, a stockbroker.
将新闻集团一分为二才是股东们的终极梦想，野村证券的股票经纪人Michael Nathanson如是说。

Analysts worry that News Corp is still juggling too many minority stakes in smaller companies, such as Hulu and Tata Sky.
有分析师担心，新闻集团在太多的小公司里持有小额股份，如在Hulu视频网站和印度卫星电视运营公司Tata Sky都持有股份，而这些小额股份不易管理。

Todd Juenger of Sanford C. Bernstein, an investment bank, also worries about the $11 billion of idle cash on News Corp's balance-sheet.
投行斯坦福·伯恩斯坦的Juenger也指出，新闻集团的资产负债表上闲置的110亿美元资产颇为令人担心。

However, Chase Carey, the group's chief operating officer, has been busy trying to sort out its tangle of holdings, selling some of its minority stakes at a profit and buying full control of other holdings.
新闻集团的首席运营官Chase Carey已经开始试着整理这一团乱麻般的闲置资产，他以有所盈利的价格售出一部分小公司的股权，并全股收购余下的小公司。

Investors seem prepared to cut Mr Carey some slack while he does so.
投资者对于Carey此番的运营方案并无异议。

Any reorganisation of the top table will probably keep him just below Rupert Murdoch, leaving his son James Murdoch,
一旦高层人员有所调整，Carey很有可能荣升为新闻集团的第二把手。

who gave up the chairmanship of News Corp's British newspaper arm after the scandal, out of the spotlight for now.
这下鲁伯特·默多克的儿子詹姆斯·默多克会暂时退出公众的视线了。窃听丑闻发生之后，詹姆斯·默多克便辞去了新闻集团英国报业的主席职位。

The fastest-growing parts of the company are its television and cable businesses.
新闻集团发展最快的是无线电视和有线电视业务。

News Corp was shrewd in understanding the market for conservative political TV in America:
集团精明地预见到了保守的政论节目在美国的广泛市场：

the core audience of Fox News creates a stable cashflow.
福克斯新闻台的核心观众群，带来了稳定的资金流入。

The company has also made wise investments in sports broadcasting, which viewers still prefer to watch live.
集团还明智地投资于体育节目的直播。体育频道的观众爱看现场直播。

BSkyB owns the lion's share of Britain's football rights, Fox has American football, and its cable network hosts NASCAR races.
BSkyB在英国享有最大份额的足球节目直播权，福克斯拥有美式橄榄球赛的直播权，并且福克斯有线电视网还负责主持全美运动汽车竞赛。

The company is expanding its holdings in Australia and Latin America, and is considering a new national sports network in America to rival ESPN.
新闻集团还在扩张其在澳洲和拉丁美洲所持的体育赛事直播权，同时还在策划在美国建立一个可以匹敌ESPN的全国体育节目网。

The portfolio of newspapers in News Corp's publishing arm encompasses loss-makers like the London Times and the New York Post,
新闻集团出版业务的众多资产中，既有像《泰晤士报》和《纽约邮报》这样入不敷出的，

as well as the Wall Street Journal, which Mr Murdoch paid too much for but which at least is in profit,
有像《华尔街日报》这样投资巨大才略有盈利的，

and the Sun, a populist cash-cow.
也有像《太阳报》这样提倡民粹主义的摇钱树。

The newspaper business may not be growing, but it generates enough cashflow to sustain itself, says Jeff Logsdon of BMO Capital Markets.
加拿大蒙特利尔银行资本市场的Jeff Logsdon指出，新闻出版业或许无法扩大，但所产出的收益足以维持自身的运营。

It is unlikely that the company will try to offload its British papers while Mr Murdoch is still alive, in part because the phone-hacking trials could go on for years.
在默多克有生之年，新闻集团抛弃旗下英国报纸可能性不大，部分原因正是电话窃听案。窃听案怕是得审上好几年。

The ideal outcome for investors may be a repeat of what happened when Viacom, a film and cable giant, spun off its broadcast arm, CBS, in 2005.
投资者所期望的理想结果是，拆分之后两家公司的运营能像当时的美国维亚康姆集团那样。

Sumner Redstone remained chairman of both sides but Leslie Moonves, given the job of running the supposedly sluggish CBS part,
影视巨头维亚康姆集团于2005年将有线电视业务和无线电视业务拆分开来。

showed that it could be revived—since when the shares of both businesses have risen.
由哥伦比亚广播公司专营无线电视业务。Sumner Redstone仍然兼任两家公司的主席。Leslie Moonves负责运营当时不被看好的哥伦比亚广播公司，通过妥善的管理使哥伦比亚广播公司重整旗鼓—自此以后，两家公司的股价都有所攀升。