微軟262億美元收購領英 科技巨頭進軍企業社交
In one of the biggest tech mergers of all time, Microsoft said that it's buying LinkedIn in a deal valued at $26.2 billion.
日前，在有史以來最大的一次高科技企業併購中，微軟公司宣佈以262億美元的價格收購領英。The deal combines Microsoft, which dominates the global market for computer systems, with LinkedIn, known as the main social network for professionals.
此次收購，將微軟這個主導計算機系統全球市場的企業與主導專業人士社交網絡的領英連接了起來。Microsoft wants to use LinkedIn as a database of professional information and distribution channel for its software systems. LinkedIn gains additional financing and access to millions of people who could potentially join its network.
微軟計劃利用領英的專業人士信息數據庫，作爲銷售軟件的渠道。領英則取得了額外融資，也將增加幾百萬個潛在用戶。
Together, the two companies could build new types of services that would be particularly useful for workers in sales and HR roles, according to Rodney Nelson, lead Microsoft analyst at Morningstar.
據晨星網的微軟總分析師羅德尼·尼爾森表示，這兩個企業將一起打造尤其適合銷售和招聘人員的新服務。A sales rep could look up someone he's pitching to through Outlook and see their LinkedIn information while writing an email pitch. In the future, Microsoft might even deploy Cortana as a virtual assistant to write the email too, based on that LinkedIn data. For HR professionals, Microsoft could integrate LinkedIn work history of interested candidates to determine compensation offers and job placement.
銷售代表可以查詢到某個人，並在Outlook撰寫郵件的過程中查看他們的領英信息。將來，微軟可能還要使用虛擬助手Cortana，讓它根據人們在領英上的數據來撰寫郵件。對於人力資源專家，微軟可以整合領英上人們的工作歷史，來決定應聘者的補償金和就業安置。LinkedIn had a long, multi-year run as the best-performing social network in the stock market. But over the past six months, despite still being a sizable business, shares have started to sink asFacebook (FB, Tech30) has soared.
領英在股市的表現多年來都是極佳的，但過去六個月，儘管業務很大，該企業的股價已經下沉，與此同時的臉書股價卻一直上升。LinkedIn (LNKD, Tech30) had $3 billion in revenue last year, up 35% from the year before. It has 433 million members worldwide, but its growth has been slowing. Shares had plunged 42% this year, before the deal was announced. The big spark came in February when the company warned of disappointing revenue and profits ahead.
領英去年有3億收入，相比前年增加了35%。此外，該企業在全球有4.33億用戶，但增長速度已經有所放緩。在這項交易公佈之前，領英的股價已下跌42%。這與二月時企業預估今年的收入和利益可能令人失望有關。Scott Kessler, an analyst at SP Global Capital, says he's skeptical of the transaction because it's a "large deal at a premium with a lot of work to be done."
標普全球資本的分析師斯科特·凱斯勒表示，他十分懷疑這比交易，因爲“這是一個溢價的大筆交易，有許多工作要做。”The LinkedIn brand will continue after the deal is closed later this year, the companies said. Jeff Weiner will remain CEO of LinkedIn, reporting to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
領英表示，在今年晚些時候交易完成後，該公司的品牌將繼續保留。傑夫·韋納將繼續擔任領英的CEO，並向微軟的CEO薩提亞·納德拉彙報工作。"The LinkedIn team has grown a fantastic business centered on connecting the world's professionals," Nadella said. "Together we can accelerate the growth of LinkedIn, as well as Microsoft Office 365."
“領英團隊在集中全球專業人士的領域做了了不起的工作，”納德拉說。“從今往後我們將一起加快增長速度，”
