马云收购《南华早报》 谈判正在进行中

 　　HONG KONG — Jack¹ Ma, chairman of the Internet giant Alibaba Group, is in talks to buy The South China Morning Post, an influential² English-language newspaper based in Hong Kong, according to a person with direct knowledge of the discussions.

　　香港——直接了解有关讨论的一位消息人士透露，互联网巨头阿里巴巴集团董事局主席马云正在就收购《南华早报》(South China Morning Post)一事进行谈判。《南华早报》是总部设在香港的一份有影响力的英文报纸。

　　A deal would echo the purchase of The Washington Post by Amazon’s founder³, Jeffrey P. Bezos, in 2013, which gave a major media brand substantial backing at a turbulent time for the business.

　　如果做成，这笔交易将是亚马逊创始人杰弗里·P·贝索斯(Jeffrey P. Bezos)于2013年收购《华盛顿邮报》(Washington Post)的重演。在纸面媒体面临动荡的时代，贝索斯的收购是对一个主要媒体品牌的重大支持。

　　马云收购《南华早报》 谈判正在进行中

　　Like Mr. Bezos, Alibaba’s founder, Mr. Ma, made his fortune in Internet commerce. Like the Washington Post, The South China Morning Post is struggling to adapt to the changing media environment. And in neither case does the purchase create obvious business advantages for the buyer.

　　阿里巴巴创始人马云与贝索斯一样靠互联网电子商务发了财。而《南华早报》与《华盛顿邮报》一样在努力适应不断变化的媒体环境。同样，这两笔交易都不给买家带来明显的业务优势。

　　It has not yet been decided⁴ whether the buyer would be Mr. Ma or Alibaba, the person said on Tuesday.

　　该消息人士周二表示，买家是马云还是阿里巴巴尚未确定。

　　Any deal for the Hong Kong newspaper will have a political dimension.

　　任何有关香港报纸的交易都会涉及政治层面。

　　The prospective⁵ takeover is raising concerns that the newspaper’s editorial independence could be compromised by a corporate⁶ owner whose market position depends in large part on the good will of the Chinese government. Unlike the rest of China, Hong Kong guarantees freedom of the press, a right enshrined in the laws that have governed the former British colony since its return to Chinese rule in 1997.

　　这个即将发生的收购引发了人们对该报的编辑独立性可能会受影响的担忧，因为该报将由一个企业人士拥有，而该企业的市场地位在很大程度上取决于中国政府对其有多友善。与中国内地其他地区不同，香港保障出版自由，这一权利庄严地载入了香港于1997年回归中国之后用来管理这个英国前殖民地的法律之中。

　　Mr. Ma “needs support from Beijing to continue his dominance of the Internet transactional world, and therefore he’s going to be careful in what he does in the publishing world,” said Andrew Collier, a former Beijing-based reporter for the newspaper who now runs a China-focused financial research firm in Hong Kong.

　　马云“继续他在全球网上交易的霸主地位需要有北京的支持，因此他在出版界做事会小心翼翼，”曾任《南华早报》驻京记者的安德鲁·科利尔(Andrew Collier)说，科利尔目前在香港经营一个关注中国金融的研究公司。

　　A deal could be weeks or even months away, said the person with knowledge of the discussions, who spoke⁷ on the condition of anonymity⁸ because the negotiations⁹ were private. The talks could also fall apart.

　　交易做成可能还需数周、甚至数月的时间，那位了解谈判情况的人士表示。此人要求不具名，因为谈判一事尚未公开。谈判也可能会失败。

　　Nevertheless, talks between the two sides have made “significant progress” in recent days, the person said.

　　然而，双方之间的谈判近日来取得了“显著的进展”，该人士说。

　　Alibaba declined to comment. Benson Chao, a spokesman for The South China Morning Post, said the company did not comment on “market rumors¹⁰.”

　　阿里巴巴拒绝置评。《南华早报》发言人本森·周(Benson Chao)表示，公司不对“市场传闻”发表评论。

　　A deal has been the subject of media speculation¹¹ for much of the past month after news of the possible acquisition was reported in China Daily, an official mainland Chinese newspaper, on Nov. 9.

　　11月9日，大陆官方报纸《中国日报》报道了可能的收购之后，媒体在过去一个月的大部分时间里对这笔交易做出各种猜测。

　　In the past, Mr. Ma’s deal-making style has come under scrutiny¹³ for purchases that seemed out of line with Alibaba’s strategy. For example, the company bought into a soccer team in 2014.

　　此前，马云的交易作风吸引了公众的密切关注，因为那些收购交易似乎不符合阿里巴巴的一贯战略。比如，公司曾于2014年买入一支足球队的股份。

　　Having Mr. Ma make the investment personally would mean that only one company board, the newspaper’s, would need to approve it. “For him, it’s like pocket change,” the person said.

　　如果交易是马云个人投资的话，那意味着他只需要得到一家公司、也就是这家报社的董事会的批准。“对他来说，这笔投资就像是口袋里的零用钱，”该消息人士说。

　　A deal for The South China Morning Post, the person said, would fit in with Alibaba’s broader holdings. The company owns stakes in Chinese Internet sites with a media bent¹⁴, like Youku Tudou, which is similar to YouTube, and Sina Weibo, akin¹² to Twitter. The person said that The South China Morning Post had a good brand and that the takeover “might lead to some synergy.” Any such advantages would be easier to realize if Alibaba were the buyer, the person said.

　　该人士表示，买下《南华早报》与阿里巴巴更广泛的持股相符。在媒体方面，阿里巴巴已经持有一些中国互联网网站的股份，比如类似YouTube的优酷土豆集团，和类似Twitter的新浪微博。该人士说，《南华早报》是一个良好的品牌，收购“可能会产生一些协同效应”。如果阿里巴巴是买家的话，会更容易实现这种组合优势，该人士说。

　　But the companies have drastically different audiences. Despite having a Chinese-language service, The South China Morning Post is primarily focused on the limited English-speaking market in Hong Kong, although its coverage¹⁵ of China is read globally. Content on Youku Tudou and Sina Weibo is overwhelmingly in Chinese.

　　然而，这两家公司有着非常不同的客户群。尽管《南华早报》有一个中文网站，但这家报纸的主要目标是香港有限的英语市场，虽然该报有关中国的报道在全球都有读者。优酷网、土豆网及新浪微博上的内容绝大多数都是中文的。

　　Under an agreement announced this month, copies of The International New York Times for Hong Kong and China will be printed by The South China Morning Post beginning in February.

　　据本月初宣布的一项协议，从明年2月起，《国际纽约时报》(The International New York Times)的香港版和中国版将由《南华早报》印刷厂印刷。

　　The main concern among some people who study the Chinese and Hong Kong press is that ownership of the newspaper by Mr. Ma or Alibaba could further erode¹⁶ media independence in Hong Kong. Mainland Chinese enterprises have been deepening their stakes in the local industry, and journalists here say they are feeling increasing pressure to soft-pedal issues deemed provocative¹⁷ by the governing Communist Party in Beijing.

　　关注中国和香港出版界的一些人的主要担心是，该报由马云或阿里巴巴拥有，可能会进一步削弱香港媒体的独立性。中国内地企业已在加强对香港当地企业的控股，这里的记者说，他们在报道被视为是挑衅北京的执政党共产党的问题时，已感到有越来越大的压力迫使他们低调处理。

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

3 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 prospective   

adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的

参考例句：

• The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
• They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。

6 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 anonymity   

n.the condition of being anonymous

参考例句：

• Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密，书中的人用的都是化名。
• Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。

9 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

10 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

12 akin   

adj.同族的，类似的

参考例句：

• She painted flowers and birds pictures akin to those of earlier feminine painters.她画一些同早期女画家类似的花鸟画。
• Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.听他的人生故事犹如阅读一本精彩的冒险小说。

13 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

14 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

15 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

16 erode   

v.侵蚀，腐蚀，使...减少、减弱或消失

参考例句：

• Once exposed,soil is quickly eroded by wind and rain.一旦暴露在外，土壤很快就会被风雨侵蚀。
• Competition in the financial marketplace has eroded profits.金融市场的竞争降低了利润。

17 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。