評論
打印
Business
商業報道
Boots and Walgreens
博姿藥房與沃爾格林藥房
A new prescription
新處方
Two huge pharmacy chains become even bigger
兩家大型醫藥連鎖規模變得更大了
OTHER American executives may be fretting about Europe.
其他美國總裁們還可能在擔憂歐洲的狀況，
Not so Greg Wasson, the chief executive of Walgreens, America's biggest pharmacy chain.
但美國最大的醫藥連鎖沃爾格林藥房總裁Greg Wasson不以為然。
On June 19th his firm said it would buy 45% of Alliance Boots, Europe's largest player in the drugs-distribution business.
6月19日該公司宣布將購入歐洲最大的藥品經銷商英國聯合博姿藥房45％的股份。
And the $6.7 billion bid is only the first half of a bigger deal.
而這67億美元的出價僅僅是整個收購計劃的上半場罷了。
If all goes as planned, Walgreens will pay about $9.5 billion for the rest of Alliance Boots within three years—creating what the bosses of both firms call the first global pharmacy-led health and well-being enterprise.
如果一切按計劃進行，沃爾格林藥房在三年內可再付95億美元將剩下的股份一并收購。這將創造兩家公司總裁稱之為"第一家全球性醫藥和保健企業"
The merged firm will indeed be more global than any pharmacy chain before.
合并后的企業的確將比任何一家醫藥連鎖都要全球化。
Walgreens has 8,000 stores in America, with sales of $72 billion in fiscal 2011.
沃爾格林藥房在美國擁有8000家門戶，2011財年銷售額為720億美元。
Alliance Boots is a giant in Europe and beyond.
聯合博姿藥房是歐洲及其它地區的巨頭。
The firm, which generated sales of 25 billion in fiscal 2011, operates in more than 25 countries and has more than 3,000 pharmacies.
2011財年完成銷售達250億英鎊，在超過25個國家經營業務，門店超過3000家。
Together, Walgreens and Alliance Boots will be the world's biggest buyer of prescription drugs.
加在一起，沃爾格林藥房和聯合博姿藥房將是世界上最大的處方藥采購商。
For Walgreens, the deal follows a fitful year.
對沃爾格林藥房來說，這次收購發生在不太順利的一年里。
A spat with Express Scripts, which manages drug costs for employers, meant that Express Scripts' customers had to fill their prescriptions elsewhere.
和管理雇主藥品成本的Express Scripts公司分道揚鑣，意味著Express Scripts的顧客需要在其他公司購買處方藥。
Sales in the most recent quarter were 3.4% lower than in the same period last year, and the number of prescriptions filled dropped by 8.4%.
銷售額在最近的一季度同比下跌3.4%，處方藥銷售數量下降8.4%。
Although too big to be considered a direct response to these problems, the deal with Alliance Boots gives Walgreens a path to growth after this rough patch.
這次收購的金額顯示這應該不是僅僅對這次分家的回應，而這次收購也給經過這次顛簸的沃爾格林藥房指向了一條發展的明路。
As for Boots, it is best known for its ubiquity in Britain.
而博姿藥房則在英國以無所不在而聞名。
In 2006 it merged with Alliance UniChem, a European drugs wholesaler and distributor.
2006年博姿藥房并購了歐洲的藥品批發經銷商Alliance UniChem。
One year later Stefano Pessina, the firm's executive chairman, and KKR, a private-equity firm, took the company private.
一年后公司執行主席Stefano Pessina與私募KKR公司一起將公司私有化。
The leveraged buy-out, which was worth 11.1 billion, remains Europe's biggest.
通過價值111億英鎊的杠桿收購后，這單收購至今仍是歐洲最大的。
The deal with Walgreens fulfils Mr Pessina's ambition to bring Boots to America.
這次收購完成了Pessina帶領博姿藥房進入美國的雄心壯志。
The country's drugs market is the world's biggest and has formidable established pharmacy chains, including, in addition to Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid.
美國的藥品市場是世界上最大的，同時也存在大得令人可怕的醫藥連鎖商。
It would be suicide to come in and compete with these guys, Mr Pessina told your correspondent in May. Now he does not have to.
除沃爾格林藥房外，還有CVS和Rite Aid。五月份Pessina跟您的記者描述，"進入這個市場跟這些人競爭簡直就是自殺。"現在他或許不再需要了。
The benefits of the merger are many, at least according to Messrs Wasson and Pessina.
并購的好處有很多，至少根據Messrs Wasson和Pessina的說法。
They say that they will use their combined expertise and strength to streamline distribution and squeeze discounts from generic drugmakers.
他們將發揮聯合以后的專業和特長以流程化配送并從通用制藥商榨取更多折扣。
Boots will be able to sell its products, such as the No7 beauty line, at Walgreens' American stores.
博姿藥房將獲許在沃爾格林藥房的商店銷售自己的產品例如No7系列化妝品。
Walgreens, meanwhile, will benefit from Boots's product-development teams and global reach.
沃爾格林藥房與此同時也將從博姿藥房的產品開發團隊和全球化。
Even without additional deals, the merged firm hopes to reach revenues of $130 billion by 2016, with about one-third coming from operations outside the United States.
哪怕該并購沒有進入第二階段，公司合并后營業額在2016年度將有望達到1300億美元，其中大約三分之一來自在美國外的業務。
Not everybody is convinced.
但并不是所有人都信服。
It is hardly an opportune time to invest in Europe, sceptics say.
持懷疑態度的稱，現在并不是一個投資歐洲的機會。
Walgreens's share price dipped by 5.9% on the day of the announcement.
沃爾格林藥房股票在宣布當天下跌5.9%。
Standard & Poor's, a ratings agency, worries about the debt Walgreens will shoulder.
標普對沃爾格林藥房所承擔的債務表示擔憂。
In the first stage of the deal the firm will assume $3.5 billion;
在收購的第一階段，該公司將記帳35億美元債務。
in the second stage it will take on the rest of Alliance Boots's outstanding debt, which amounted to more than 7 billion in March.
在第二階段，該公司將承擔聯合博姿藥房所有的債務。截至今年三月份為止，金額達70億英鎊。
The debate about the merits of the deal is likely to go on for some time.
對這場收購有點的爭論必定將持續一段時間。
Yet there is already one clear winner.
但現已有一位贏家。
KKR invested 1.2 billion in 2007.
KKR在2007年投資了12億英鎊。
In the first stage of the Walgreens deal, KKR will receive 1.2 billion and 140m in shares.
而在沃爾格林藥房收購的第一階段，KKR將獲得12億英鎊現金和價值1億4千萬英鎊的股份。
If the full acquisition proceeds as expected, the American firm will more than double its money—not bad for an investment framed by a financial collapse and the euro crisis.
如果整個收購方案按計劃進行，這家美國公司將使其投資翻番。對于一個在金融坍塌和歐元危機的大條件下，這份投資還是不錯的。
