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Google GOOG -1.06% has its checkbook open, and it’s ready to dole out as much as $30 billion to buy companies overseas. What could the Internet giant possibly buy, considering it’s already working on everything from driverless cars to futuristic Internet eyeglasses?
互聯網巨頭谷歌（Google）已經打開了它的支票本，準備拿出300億美元進行海外并購。谷歌已經把目光投向無人駕駛汽車和未來互聯網眼鏡領域，那么，它可能的收購對象會是誰？
Google has said it plans to use most of its offshore funds to make acquisitions abroad, according to a recent letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission. By keeping its huge money pot overseas Google can avoid paying U.S. corporate taxes on the cash. Those taxes are as high as 35%.
谷歌近期向美國證券交易委員會（the Securities and Exchange Commission）提交的文件顯示，它計劃利用大部分境外資金進行海外并購。通過進行海外投資，谷歌可以避免支付在美高達35%的公司稅。
When it comes to acquisitions, Google’s options are nearly endless. Looking at the obvious holes in its business, or even what the company has tried to go after in the past, may reveal the company’s grand plans, said Jason Helfstein, an analyst with Oppenheimer.
說到并購，谷歌的選擇可謂無窮無盡。投行Oppenheimer公司分析師賈森o赫福斯頓表示，通過查看谷歌業務的明顯漏洞或過去曾嘗試收購的公司，或許可以發現它的宏偉計劃。
“They have a very broad view of what their ultimate purpose is,” said Helfstein. It’s the data that’s central, he added, and it “is ultimately what they’re going to use.”
“他們對最終的并購目標有著非常廣泛的考慮，”赫福斯頓表示。數據是核心要素， “他們最終會用到數據。”
There are three main areas where the company has faltered – or is still under-invested – and may want to beef up: social, payments and cloud services.
谷歌蹣跚不前、投資不足和希望充實的三個主要領域分別是：社交網絡、支付業務和云服務。
Building Beyond Google+
超越Google+
Google has had a lot of success with its consumer-focused acquisitions, including YouTube and Android. It could find similar success with Belgium-based music streaming service Spotify, said Tom Taulli, founder of MasterCFO and author of “The Complete M&A Handbook.”
谷歌在以消費者為導向的收購中戰績輝煌，其中就包括視頻網站YouTube和安卓操作系統（Android）。MasterCFO創始人、《并購完全手冊》（The Complete M&A Handbook）一書的作者湯姆o陶利表示，谷歌還能在總部位于比利時的音樂流服務企業Spotify身上取得類似的成績。
Spotify comes with a built-in social network, an area in which Google has struggled to gain much traction. With over 10 million global subscribers, Spotify could give Google’s social ambitions – so far limited to Google+ – a big lift.
Spotify提供內置社交網絡，而這正是谷歌努力爭取推動力的領域。Spotify的全球用戶數量超過1,000萬，能夠讓谷歌在社交領域的野心——目前僅限于Google+——搭上順風車。
“It’s been crickets for G+ and all their efforts on the social side,” Taulli said. “It’s been a big hole; a big gap in Google.”
“G+及其在社交領域付出的所有努力已經走到了盡頭，”陶利指出，“這是谷歌的巨大漏洞和缺口。”
Buying a music service is also critical for Google if it wants to compete against Apple AAPL -0.69% and its recent $3 billion acquisition of Beats, the audio equipment maker and music streaming service.
如果谷歌想要與蘋果（Apple）（AAPL -0.69%）及其近期30億美元收購音頻設備制造商和音樂流服務公司Beats的計劃相抗衡，收購一家音樂服務公司對谷歌來說具有決定性意義。
Buying Its Way to Data
砸錢搞數據
The payments business, which reveals all sorts of valuable information about consumers and businesses, such as what they buy and where they shop, is an area Google has wanted to enter for years, said Helfstein. The company already has the Google Wallet payment service, but it likely wants to expand by buying foreign payment companies that would bolster Google’s capabilities. The value may even be worth foregoing profits.
赫福斯頓表示，支付業務披露各種有關消費者和商業的重要情報，如購買目標和購買地點，這是谷歌多年來一直希望進入的領域。谷歌已經推出了谷歌電子錢包（Google Wallet）支付服務，但是它或許希望收購增強公司能力的海外支付公司，以此實現公司的擴張。收購價值甚至可能相當于前述利潤。
“It would be happy to run one of these businesses, make no money and collect all the data,” said Helfstein. It could then monetize the reams of information by using it within its current businesses.
赫福斯頓表示，“谷歌很樂意在不盈利的基礎上運營上述業務中的某一項業務，收集所有數據。”之后，它可以在現有業務中使用數據，實現大量信息的盈利。
Cloud Connections
云連接
Google may choose to look beyond the consumer towards cloud-focused companies abroad, in a bid to build its offerings for small businesses, governments and big-name corporations
為了向小型企業、政府和知名企業提供服務，谷歌可能選擇超越消費者層面，把目光投向海外的云服務公司。
“The Europeans are really lamenting that only the U.S. is really good in the cloud space,” said Roger Enter, founder of Recon Analytics. “It would make sense to put a lot of the servers closer to their clients. Move closer and everything gets faster. They’ve done that already and they’re going to do it more.”
“歐洲人常常抱怨，只有美國擅長云空間，”市場分析機構Recon Analytics公司創始人羅杰o埃特納表示，“使大量服務器靠近客戶不無道理。距離更近，一切變得更快。他們已經就此采取行動，未來還將加大工作力度。”
Google has also said it plans to spend as much as $4 billion on infrastructure abroad, including data centers, and investing in a smaller, European-based cloud company could complement that investment and help Google deliver its cloud services to a European market that is hungry for more.
谷歌還表示計劃對數據中心等海外基礎設施投資40億美元。收購位于歐洲的小型云服務公司可以對這項投資形成補充，而且有助于谷歌向需求龐大的歐洲市場提供云服務。
“For them, everything that connects, they should be interested in,” Enter said. “It helps them improve their product.”
“他們應該對云連接的一切事物感興趣，”埃特納說。“云服務可以幫助他們改進產品。”
