股神救報業：不畏報業蕭條 砸錢投資媒體

	2012/06/07  台灣立報  第9版  國際  李威撰（轉貼）
	策劃、編譯■李威撰 　　日前，紐奧良一家擁有百年歷史的老報，無預警宣布減少發行天數， 　　從每日出報改成1週3次，紐奧良因此成了美國首個沒有日報的大城市。 　　報業蕭條，許多傳統印刷報紙紛紛將版圖移向網路， 　　然而，股神巴菲特卻在同一時間出手，捍衛印刷報紙的生存。 　　巴菲特的波克夏哈薩威公司加碼投資報業，砸1.42億美元買下新聞傳播公司旗下大多數的報紙，巴菲特因此也晉升成美國最大的出版業者之一。這筆交易意味著巴菲特在全美握有25家日報。 　　May 17 (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc is boosting its bet on the newspaper industry, with a deal to buy the majority of Media General Inc's papers for $142 million in cash, making him one of the largest publishers in the United States. The deal means Buffett will have a stable of about 25 daily（1） newspapers across the country. 　　巴菲特在報業搶占一席之地，但報業卻因廣告收入銳減，以及讀者捨棄紙本油墨印刷的報紙而改讀數位新聞，導致報業陷入困境。 　　Buffett is staking his claim in an industry dogged by plummeting advertising revenue and readers who are choosing digital formats over paper and ink. 　　巴菲特領導的企業集團，涉足範圍從冰淇淋到保險業都有，所以巴菲特這次的舉動並不奇怪，他一直都在尋找有價值的事物。他在5月曾告訴波克夏的股東，他會花更多資金在報紙，因為他仍舊把報紙視為是地方資訊的主要來源。 　　The move is a classic turn for the chairman of the ice-cream-to-insurance conglomerate who is always on the hunt for a good value. He told his Berkshire shareholders（2） in May that he was going to spend more money on newspapers because he still views them as the primary source for local information. 　　波克夏也將借款4億美元給新聞傳播公司，並提供4,500萬美元的貸款額度。新聞傳播公司發行價值約460萬美元的A級股票給波克夏，持股比例為19.9％。 　　Berkshire will also lend Media General $400 million and provide a $45 million credit line. Media General will issue warrants for approximately 4.6 million Class A shares, representing 19.9 percent of its existing shares outstanding. 　　收購媒體高達63家 　　波克夏買下的63家日報及週刊，分布於美國的東南部，其中還包括了維吉尼亞州的《里契蒙每日快報》。這些報紙未來將在波克夏新成立的子公司波克夏哈薩威媒體集團下營運。這筆買賣完成以後，巴菲特手中所有日報的週間發行總量將達到80萬份。 　　Its 63 daily and weekly newspapers are scattered throughout the U.S. Southeast and include the Richmond Times-Dispatch. They will be operated under BH Media Group, a new subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. When the Media General deal is complete, Buffett's stable of daily papers will have a total weekday circulation（3） of around 800,000. 　　波克夏已擁有《水牛城新聞報》及《奧馬哈世界先驅報》，外加持有《華盛頓郵報》的股份。據傳聞，波克夏亦持有最近重新整頓財務的報業集團李氏企業公司的一小部分股份。 　　Berkshire already owns the Buffalo News, the Omaha World-Herald Co and a stake in the Washington Post Co. The conglomerate also reportedly holds a small stake in the recently reorganized newspaper chain Lee Enterprises. 　　據皮尤研究中心指出，巴菲特買下新聞傳播公司的報紙後，將透過市場滲透方式，握有美國10大報中的3家。 　　With the Media General deal, Buffett will own three of the top 10 newspapers in the country by market penetration, according to the Pew Research Center. 　　但發行公信會指出，直接歸波克夏所有的報紙，沒有任何一份的發行量的排名擠進全國前25，其中一名分析家認為，這切合巴菲特的策略。 　　But none of the papers that Berkshire owns directly are in the top 25 nationwide by circulation, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, which one analyst said fits with Buffett's strategy. 　　標竿資本的分析師亞托里諾表示：「波克夏哈薩威很清楚地對小城鎮的地方型報紙投下了信任票，他們沒有買下身陷困境的大都市報紙《坦帕論壇報》」「基本上他們讓新聞傳播公司重獲生機，這只是一筆小錢，但波克夏哈薩威不是沒事瞎搞，我不認為波克夏哈薩威會去做虧錢的事業。」 　　"Berkshire Hathaway is clearly (taking) a vote of confidence in small-town local newspapers. They didn't buy the big city newspaper Tampa Tribune, which is struggling," said Benchmark Capital analyst Edward Atorino. "They're basically giving Media General a lease on life here. This is chump change, but Berkshire Hathaway doesn't fool around. I don't think Berkshire Hathaway does anything where they're going to lose money." 　　巴菲特在去年稍晚收購了家鄉的報紙《奧馬哈世界先驅報》，金額比這次收購新聞傳播公司報紙略高。去年該筆交易購買了包括內布拉斯加州及愛荷華州的6家日報及數本週刊。 　　Buffett is paying slightly less for the Media General papers than he paid late last year for his hometown paper, the World-Herald. That deal included six other dailies and several weeklies in Nebraska and Iowa. 　　巴菲特買下第1份報紙《水牛城新聞報》時（1977年），曾論及報紙利潤的萎縮，當時他表示：「當產業的潛在經濟狀況搖搖欲墜，有才能的管理方式應是減緩衰退的步調；不過管理得再好，最後還是會侵蝕根基。」 　　"When an industry's underlying economics are crumbling, talented management may slow the rate of decline. Eventually, though, eroding fundamentals will overwhelm managerial brilliance," he said in discussing the shrinking profits at his first newspaper holding, the Buffalo News. 　　巴菲特堅稱購買《奧馬哈世界先驅報》是「合理的」，並在5月告訴過股東，他們會看見他有更多的動作。巴菲特5月5日波克夏的年度會議上表示：「我們也許要買更多報紙，我想做出成績是沒問題的。」 　　But Buffett was adamant （4） that the World-Herald deal was "reasonable," and told shareholders earlier this month they were likely to see him do more. "We may buy more newspapers. I think the economics work out OK," Buffett said at Berkshire's annual meeting on May 5. 　　投資範圍甚廣 　　一名波克夏的投資者表示，這筆交易符合巴菲特的價值模型，也就是他會廣泛購買各種事業，包括鐵路、化學公司、珠寶商或酒品經銷。 　　One Berkshire investor said the deal fits Buffett's value model, which has drawn him into a wide range of acquisitions -- from railroads and chemical companies to jewelers and alcohol distributors. 　　巴菲特除了持有近20％的新聞傳播公司股份，同時他也再次涉足他所熟悉的廣播電視事業。新聞傳播公司賣掉報紙後，剩下的幾乎都是電視公司，其中包括幾家收購自國家廣播公司的電視台。 　　With the nearly 20 percent stake in Media General, Buffett also gets a foot back into the broadcast television business, an industry he knows well. After the newspaper sale, the remaining Media General will be mostly a TV company, with a number of NBC affiliates（5）. 　　1980年代，巴菲特曾資助大都會公司購買美國廣播公司電視網，有數年時間一直是大都會的大股東。 　　In the 1980s, Buffett helped Capital Cities finance its purchase of the ABC television network and for years remained one of its key shareholders. 　　（路透Reuters） 　　關鍵字詞 　　1. daily (n.) 日報 　　2. shareholder (n.) 股東 　　3. circulation (n.) 發行量 　　4. adamant (a.) 堅定不移的 　　5. affiliate (n.) 分支機構