Rappaport A, Sirower M L
Harv Bus Rev. 1999 Nov-Dec;77(6):147-58, 217.
In 1988, less than 2% of large deals were paid for entirely in stock; by 1998, that number had risen to 50%. The shift has profound ramifications for shareholders of both the acquiring and acquired companies. In this article, the authors provide a framework and two simple tools to guide boards of both companies through the issues they need to consider when making decisions about how to pay for--and whether to accept--a deal. First an acquirer has to decide whether to finance the deal using stock or pay cash. Second, if the acquirer decides to issue stock, it then must decide whether to offer a fixed value of shares or a fixed number of them. Offering cash places all the potential risks and rewards with the acquirer--and sends a strong signal to the markets that it has confidence in the value not only of the deal but in its own stock. By issuing shares, however, an acquirer in essence offers to share the newly merged company with the stockholders of the acquired company--a signal the market often interprets as a lack of confidence in the value of the acquirer's stock. Offering a fixed number of shares reinforces that impression because it requires the selling stockholders to share the risk that the value of the acquirer's stock will decline before the deal goes through. Offering a fixed value of shares sends a more confident signal to the markets, as the acquirer assumes all of that risk. The choice between cash and stock should never be made without full and careful consideration of the potential consequences. The all-too-frequent disappointing returns from stock transactions underscore how important the method of payment truly is.
1988年，大型交易中完全以股票支付的比例不到2%；到1998年，这一数字升至50%。这种转变对收购公司和被收购公司的股东都产生了深远影响。在本文中，作者提供了一个框架和两个简单工具，以指导两家公司的董事会应对在决定如何支付交易款项以及是否接受交易时需要考虑的问题。首先，收购方必须决定是用股票还是现金为交易融资。其次，如果收购方决定发行股票，那么它必须决定是提供固定价值的股份还是固定数量的股份。用现金支付会让收购方承担所有潜在风险和回报——并向市场发出一个强烈信号，即它不仅对交易价值有信心，而且对自己的股票价值也有信心。然而，通过发行股份，收购方实际上是提出与被收购公司的股东分享新合并的公司——市场通常将这一信号解读为对收购方股票价值缺乏信心。提供固定数量的股份会强化这种印象，因为这要求出售股份的股东分担收购方股票价值在交易完成前下跌的风险。提供固定价值的股份则向市场发出更有信心的信号，因为收购方承担了所有这些风险。在没有充分仔细考虑潜在后果的情况下，绝不应该在现金和股票之间做出选择。股票交易中屡屡令人失望的回报凸显了支付方式的重要性。
