中国互联网企业缘何纷纷休战结盟

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 Meituan.com 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.两年前，红杉中国(Sequoia China)掌舵人沈南鹏(Neil Shen)曾尝试相爱他投资的两家互联网企业美团(Meituan.com)与大众评论(Dianping Holdings)联姻。那时，两家公司都在烧钱，投放大笔资金在部分重合的业务上争夺战客户和市场份额。那一次，沈南鹏没顺利。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，美团和大众评论表示同意拆分，它们之间的战争被取消了。

除了其他业务，美团和大众评论都在获取送餐和餐饮优惠服务。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.这笔价值高达200亿美元的交易，只是中国竞争对手之间一系列合并案（常常牵涉到投资人的强力介入）中的近期一笔。这些企业已意识到，结盟不会带给更大收益。

“In this case one plus one will equal three or four,” says Mr Shen.“在这种情况下，一加一将相等三或四，”沈南鹏说道。“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.”“统合是构建报酬最大化的最佳途径，”为美团和大众评论都获取咨询的华兴资本(Chinese Renaissance)的掌舵人包凡补足说道。

“一切都是资本供应的函数。”华兴资本是一家坐落于北京的咨询机构和精品投行。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.今年将沦为互联网企业拆分的标志性年份。

Mergermarket的数据表明，今年目前为止，中国再次发生了267起科技企业合并案，交易额约320亿美元，而2014年全年合并案为338起，交易额为260亿美元。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.随着流向互联网企业的资金减慢，奇特不不受地心引力起到的估值已暂停下降，投资人开始对被投资企业产生更加严苛的约束，尽管这遇上了一些企业创始人的赞成。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.知情人士回应，近几个月，红杉资本(Sequoia Capital)和老虎环球基金(Tiger Global)等投资机构已大幅度增加了对中国互联网行业的投放，并向被投资企业收到警告：如果它们过分自私，那么它们未来将无法以较高估值取得融资。

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.行业统合趋势，以及许多企业创始人对该趋势的杯葛，都指出中国的环境跟美国没相似之处，尽管许多中国互联网企业如今开始在估值上挑战美国同行，在规模上多达后者。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.包凡说道，在美国，初创企业“一般来说靠着原创的商业模式跟上，胜者偏向于较晚兴起”。他说道，在多数初创企业一般来说拷贝海外模板的中国，“参与者更加多，随着时间的流逝必定南北统合”。

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.但这意味著创始人的虚荣心有可能发作，谈判有可能踏上“往心里去”的歧路。有时愤恨沦为过于大的阻碍，以致投资者拒绝难搞的创业者签订非丑化(non-disparagement)协议。

Ctrip and Qunar, the great rivals in the online travel business, finally agreed to merge earlier this week, in a $15bn tie-up.作为在线旅游业务的两大输掉，携程(Ctrip)和去哪儿(Qunar)再一表示同意拆分，拆分后估值约150亿美元。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，外部融资减慢也许不会转变局面。分析师广泛预计，在线旅游企业和租车公司或者彼此拆分，或者跟涉及行业公司拆分。

有可能拆分的企业还包括，百度(Baidu)等搜索引擎企业，或者滴滴慢的(Didi Kuaidi)等出租车叫车企业。目标将是留存现金，过渡到有所不同的、附加值更大的商业模式。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，中国的商业模式常常变化迅速，有可能造成联盟关系配对。

在世界其他地区有可能被看做利益冲突的事情，在中国大陆常常再次发生。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.互联网集团阿里巴巴(Alibaba)既是美团（主要是一家淘宝网站）的第三大股东，如今也是美团仅次于的竞争对手之一。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，当阿里巴巴大股东美团时，两者未正处于必要竞争之中。

未来，两者之间也许不会再次发生更加白热化的竞争。美团计划从销售电影票扩展到影片发售。此举有可能造成美团在未来与阿里影业(Ali Pictures)发生冲突。Similarly, Mr Shen invested in VIP Shop when it didn’t compete with JD.com, another Sequoia investment. Today, however, the two are bitter rivals.类似于地，沈南鹏投资唯品会(Vipshop)时，唯品会未与京东(JD.com)竞争。

京东也是红杉中国的投资对象。但如今，唯品会和京东再次发生了白热化竞争。

本文来源：太阳集团游戏城官网-www.filmibaba.com