目前摩托罗拉公司(Motorola Inc.)正游走在Razr的刀尖之上,可是要想把它劈成几瓣却也并非易事.
Motorola Inc. is living on the Razr's edge these days, but slicing up the company may not be so easy.

有越来越多的迹象表明,随着前期颇受欢迎的Razr系列手机销量锐减,这家电信设备生产商可能正考虑进行分拆.
Signs are growing that the telecommunications-equipment maker may be contemplating a breakup in the wake of the collapse in popularity of its Razr cellphone.

这样的举措正合"行动型"股东卡尔•伊坎(Carl Icahn)的意,伊坎今年曾发起一场委托书争夺战,试图在摩托罗拉董事会获得一席,但没有成功.他表示,将摩托罗拉分拆可以使股东价值增长近200亿美元.这相当于每股上涨近8美元,即较当前水平上涨约50%.
Such a move would satisfy activist investor Carl Icahn, who this year ran an unsuccessful proxy fight to gain a board seat. He says carving up Motorola could produce almost $20 billion of additional shareholder value. That translates to nearly $8 more a share and would make the stock worth roughly 50% more than its current price

分析人士原则上同意伊坎的计算,虽然有很多人警告说,摩托罗拉需要解决手机业务中存在的根本问题才能使分拆的价值实现最大化.将摩托罗拉分拆成几个独立子公司将使其旗下不太为人所知的业务面临不确定的前景,而且也有悖电信设备行业眼下的合并潮.不仅如此,任何试图卖掉一个或多个业务的尝试都可能会因信贷市场低迷而难以如愿.
Analysts agree in principle with Mr. Icahn's math, although many caution that Motorola needs to fix underlying problems in the handset division to maximize the value of a breakup. Breaking Motorola into stand-alone units would highlight uncertainties facing its lesser-known businesses and would go against the trend of consolidation in the telecommunications-equipment business. And any effort to sell one or more of the businesses could fail because of the frozen credit markets.

分拆传言对摩托罗拉股价的推动作用可能大于分拆本身.11月份摩托罗拉股票从年初的20多美元下跌到14.87美元,创出新低.纽约证交所周三收盘时该股报16.19美元,上涨了6美分.
Speculation could lift Motorola's stock more than an actual split-up. The shares fell to a low of $14.87 in November from a little more than $20 at the start of the year. They were up six cents to $16.19 yesterday in 4 p.m. New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

自Razr手机业务受阻之后,摩托罗拉今年到目前为止都在苦苦挣扎,该公司的新型手机既未能满足高端多媒体手机市场的需求,也未能满足发展中国家低成本手机的需求.第三财季公司通过降低成本控制了损失.
Motorola has floundered this year since the Razr ran aground, with a portfolio of new cellphones that failed to meet demand either for high-end multimedia phones or for low-cost phones for the developing world. The company stanched its losses in the third quarter by cutting costs.

广告摩托罗拉首席执行长爱德华•詹德(Ed Zander)拒绝了伊坎的提议,但他即将卸任.公司总裁兼首席营运长格雷格•布朗(Greg Brown)将接任首席执行长,而曾任戴尔公司(Dell Inc.)首席财务长的总监托马斯•梅莱迪斯(Tom Meredith)将到摩托罗拉出任同一职位.外界认为,布朗擅长促成交易,且不反对重组.梅莱迪斯上周表示,他虽然相信公司作为一个整体完全有机会创造巨大的经济价值,但这并不意味着其他选择就不可行.他在雷曼兄弟公司(Lehman Brothers)组织的股东大会上表示,有时,环境变了就需要在行动上有所改变.这方面应顺应时事.
Motorola Chief Executive Ed Zander rejected Mr. Icahn's proposal, but he is stepping down. President and Chief Operating Officer Greg Brown is taking over, and director Tom Meredith, the former finance chief of Dell Inc., is acting finance chief. Mr. Brown is seen as a deal maker and open to restructuring. Last week, Mr. Meredith said that while he believed 'there's every opportunity for us to create significant economic value as a whole,' that doesn't mean other options aren't viable. 'A change in circumstance sometimes requires a change in action. So I will leave it at that,' Mr. Meredith told a Lehman Brothers investor conference.

摩托罗拉包括三个业务部门:生产手机的移动装置运营部门,为公路作业人员提供公共安全无线电设备和手持装置的企业政府部门,以及制造有线电视机顶盒和电信网络装置的家庭网络部门.
Motorola has three divisions: the mobile-devices operation that produces cellphones; the enterprise-and-government division that makes public-safety radios and hand-held devices for workers on the road; and the home-and-networks division that makes cable-television set-top boxes and telecommunications-network gear.

有关分拆的谈论因简单的计算结果而进一步升温.伊坎说,摩托罗拉旗下两项不太为人所知的业务共值290亿美元,加上资产负债表中的40亿美元现金,总额同摩托罗拉的市值接近,这意味着亏损的手机业务在股票市值中所占的价值几乎为零,虽然在摩托罗拉390亿美元的销售额中,来自手机业务的比例约占51%.
The breakup talk is driven by simple math. Mr. Icahn says the company's two lesser-known pieces are worth $29 billion, and that plus the $4 billion in cash on the balance sheet comes close to Motorola's market value, meaning the company's shares are trading as if the loss-making cellphone business, which accounts for 51% of Motorola's $39 billion in sales, were worth next to nothing.

伊坎认为,手机部门的售价应相当于一年的收入,即200亿美元左右.诺基亚公司(Nokia Corp.)的市值约为其年销售额的两倍.诺基亚在全球手机市场的占有率为38%.
Mr. Icahn believes the cellphone division could sell for the value of one year's revenue, or about $20 billion. Shares of Nokia Corp., which dominates the global handset business with a 38% market share, trade at about twice annual sales.

伊坎在接受电话采访时表示,关键在于,如果手机业务被剥离,这可是在朝阳行业中有着200多亿美元收入的业务,显然其价值远远高于零.FactSet Research Systems Inc.的数据显示,截至9月30日,他持有该公司3.3%的股份,为其第三大股东,仅次于基金管理公司Dodge & Cox Inc.和Capital Research & Management Co..
'The point is that if the handset business was spun off, with over $20 billion in revenue in a growing industry, it is obviously worth a great deal more than zero,' Mr. Icahn said in a telephone interview. As of Sept. 30, he owned 3.3% of the company's shares, making him the third-largest shareholder, after fund managers Dodge & Cox Inc. and Capital Research & Management Co., according to FactSet Research Systems Inc.

研究机构CreditSights的分析师赵平(音)对摩托罗拉移动设备部门以外部分的估值为330亿美元.
Analyst Ping Zhao of research concern CreditSights values the parts of Motorola, without the mobile-devices division, at $33 billion

分拆面临的障碍之一是,信贷市场危机是否会减少潜在买家的数量.另一个选择是通过首次公开募股或是向股东派送红股将子公司作为单独的上市公司剥离.
One obstacle to a breakup is whether the credit-market crunch has reduced the number of potential buyers. Another option would be to spin out the units as publicly traded companies, either through initial public offerings or stock dividends to shareholders.

问题在于,买家会给各项业务开出什么价码.一位了解电信行业的银行家表示,如果问题得不到解决,手机业务的售价会低于其销售额.
The question is how much would a buyer pay for each of the pieces. One industry banker says the cellphone piece could sell for less than one times sales if its problems aren't fixed.

摩托罗拉几乎占垄断地位的公共安全无线电业务可能会吸引国防承包商,不过分拆此类业务会损害其与手机业务的协同效应.机顶盒业务的前景也不明朗,希望产品降价的有线运营商可能令这项业务的利润率面临压力.
The public-safety-radio business, where Motorola holds a near monopoly, could appeal to defense contractors, although splitting off such a business would destroy the synergies it has with the handset business. The picture also is mixed for the cable-box business, where profit margins could come under pressure from cable operators who want lower prices.

不少分析师认为,如果近年来能找到买家,摩托罗拉可能早就出售其网络业务了.
Many analysts believe Motorola would have sold its small networks business if it had found a buyer in recent years.

摩托罗拉发言人表示,公司仍致力于目前的战略,即在各项业务中为客户提供综合性的通讯解决方案,同时努力改善移动设备部门的财务状况.
A Motorola spokeswoman said the company remains committed to 'the current strategy of providing integrated communications solutions across its businesses as well as improving the financial performance of its mobile-device division.'