關于通用電氣大重組你需要了解的三件事

????通用電氣上周五宣布，將出售旗下通用資本大部分業務，轉型為一家“更簡單、更有價值的公司”，專注于核心的工業領域。

????此決策對通用電氣有里程碑式的意義。這家企業從電氣設備、電燈和家電制造起家，經過一系列戰略收購、創新和重組，成為全球性的多元化企業。

????當你在密切關注通用電氣大規模重組的新聞時，牢記以下三點可以讓你理清頭腦：

????1、投資者不喜歡綜合性大企業。這是通用電氣此舉的基本原理，也是個很好的理由。多元化經營主要優勢之一應該是分散風險，可幾十年前很多公司就發現，投資者不喜歡這種模式。比起投資一家旗下業務眾多的綜合性大企業，投資者更愿意自己在各行業配置多元投資組合。這就是眾所周知的“集團化折價”（conglomerate discount）。通用電氣是少數迎難而上的大型多元化集團，但其總部特別討厭“集團”一詞。通用電氣首席執行官杰夫?伊梅爾特多年來一直努力“去集團化”，不過名義上不這么說，具體舉措包括出售美國國家廣播電視公司NBC、剝離塑料業務、退出家電市場等。隨著通用資本的出售，他邁出了漫長的“去集團化”計劃中最大的一步，也是最引人注目的一步。你猜怎么著？剝離通用資本的消息一公布，通用電氣的股價應聲而漲。果不其然。

????2、企業的成功最終要看剔除成本后取得多少資本回報——這是顯而易見的事實,卻很少有人注意到。非常重要卻被忽視的一點是，伊梅爾特上任以來，通用電氣的資本規模大幅擴張。金融危機期間，該公司失去了寶貴的AAA信用評級，融資成本隨之增加。這不是好事。剝離大部分通用資本的業務后，伊梅爾特也成功削減了大量資本。但只有當通用電氣其他資本密集型業務獲得高回報時，才能確信此舉對公司有利。此外，出售通用資本后有個重要的負面影響，即通用電氣的融資成本將進一步提高，因為信用評級機構穆迪已經因此下調其債務評級。

????3、股票回購有利也有弊。宣布重組的同時，通用電氣還公布了股票回購計劃，金額高達500億美元，聽起來像是投資者樂見的消息。但不要忘了：企業回購股票和散戶投資股票一樣，只有在合適的價格購入才是劃算的交易。過去，通用電氣曾在交易價遠超當前價位時回購股票，金融危機期間又不得不以極低的價格拋售。高買低賣當然無法讓企業蓬勃發展。希望這次回購不會重蹈覆轍，但結局究竟怎樣誰也不知道。（財富中文網）

????譯者：Pessy Wang

????審校: 夏林

????General Electric GE 10.96% said Friday it plans to sell most of its GE Capital unit to create a “simpler, more valuable company” focused on its core industrial operations.

????It’s a landmark decision for the company, which grew from a manufacturer of electrical gear, light bulbs, and appliances into a global conglomerate through a process of strategic acquisitions, innovations, and reorganizations.

????Here are three insights to keep in mind as we follow the news of GE’s massive restructuring.

????1. Investors don’t like conglomerates.That’s the simple rationale for GE’s move, and it’s a good one. Diversification of risk was supposed to be one of the main attractions of conglomerates, but most of the world learned decades ago that investors don’t like it. They’d rather diversify by assembling their own portfolio of different businesses than have a corporate manager assemble one for them. Thus the well-known “conglomerate discount.” GE was one of the few major companies that plowed ahead as a widely diverse conglomerate (a term they hate at headquarters). CEO Jeff Immelt has been de-conglomerating GE for years, without exactly calling it that — no more NBC, plastics, or appliances. What he’s doing now is his biggest, most dramatic move in his long-running de-conglomerating program. And guess what: The stock jumped on the news. Not a surprise.

????2. Corporate success is ultimately a matter of earning a return on capital that exceeds the cost of capital— it’s an obvious fact that is rarely examined. Highly significant, though seldom noted, is that Immelt has added boatloads of capital to GE during his tenure. In the financial crisis, GE lost its treasured triple-A credit rating, thus raising the cost of that mountain of capital. Not good. By getting rid of most of GE Capital, he also offloads tons of capital. That could be a good thing, but only if he can earn high returns on the remaining capital-intensive industrial businesses. An important downside of the move: It causes GE’s capital costs to rise even more, because it prompted Moody’s to downgrade the company’s debt rating.

????3. Beware the allure of share buybacks.GE announced a buyback of up to $50 billion with the restructuring, which sounds like something investors should love. But remember: for companies as for individuals, buying shares is a good idea only at the right price. In the past GE has spent billions buying back shares when the stock was trading at prices much higher than the current one — and then was forced to sell shares at far lower prices during the financial crisis. Buying high, selling low — that’s not the road to prosperity. Let’s hope this buyback works out better, but one never knows.