Follow Me(经济英语角试运行活动）

被专业英语纠结的人决定每天来好好学习，呵呵。

经济学人网站有很多中英文双语的文章，偶尔回去看看.........

I will pay some attention on this board in the future in order to keep improving my english in this field...

i had read this news on cellphone china daily this morning, but i still support this sector because of affection for english~

强烈支持一下！

cool.....very good idea.....I will follow you !!!!!

171# success123
I translated this article, but my English may be worse than you, and there may be some mistakes in.
Welcome any advice or suggestions.Let's stick to it, and make progress together. Best wishes to the column.
Microsoft to buy Skype for $8.5 billion
微软以85亿美元收购Skype

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp plans to buy Internet phone service Skype for $8.5 billion (5.2 billion pounds) in cash, a rich price as it seeks to regain ground on growing rivals such as Google Inc.
纽约（路透社）-微软公司计划用85亿美元（52亿英镑）现金收购互联网电话服务商Skype，这是一个昂贵的价格，作为微软在与像谷歌这样不断壮大的对手的竞争中重新获得优势的方法。

Microsoft's interest in the money-losing but popular service highlights a need to gain new customers for its Windows and Office software. Skype has 145 million users on average each month and has gained favour among small business users.
微软对这个赔本但被广泛使用的服务商的兴趣突出了它为Windows和Office软件赢得新的客户的需求。Skype平均每月拥有1.45亿用户，并且得到了小型商业用户的支持。

Investors expressed scepticism over the deal, sending Microsoft shares down slightly.
投资者对这个交易表示怀疑，导致了微软的股价小幅下跌。

"It doesn't make sense at all as a financial investment," said Andrew Bartels, an analyst at Forrester Research. "There's no way Microsoft is going to generate enough revenue and profit from Skype to compensate."
“作为金融投资这并没有意义”，Forrester研究所的分析师Andrew Bartels说，“微软不会从Skype中赚取足够的收益和利润作为补偿。”

The sale marks a big payday for Skype's owners, online auction site eBay Inc and a group of investors including Silver Lake, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Andreessen Horowitz.
这笔交易标志着Skype公司所有者、在线拍卖网站eBay公司和包括银河、加拿大退休金计划投资局和Andreessen Horowitz在内的一组投资商的一个大发薪日。

Skype delayed plans for an initial public offering that was expected to value the company at more than $3 billion. It had been looking at other options, including tie-ups with Facebook and Google. Such a deal was expected to value Skype at $3 billion to $4 billion.
Skype推迟了期望估值超过30亿美元的首次公开发行计划，它一直在寻求其他的选择，包括与Facebook和Google的合作。这样的交易中Skpe的期望价值为30-40亿美元。

The Luxembourg-based company, which allows people to make calls at no charge but has also developed premium services, would give Microsoft a foothold in the potentially lucrative video-conferencing market as businesses shift to lower-cost ways of communicating.
总部位于卢森堡的公司，允许人们免费打电话并且还开发了优质的服务，将会在潜在的盈利性的视频会议市场上给予微软公司一个立足点，作为到沟通成本更低的商业转换。

Skype could be combined with Microsoft software such as Outlook to appeal to corporate users, while the voice and video communications could link to Microsoft's Xbox live gaming.
Skype公司可以结合微软软件，如Outlook，来吸引企业用户，而语音和视频通信可以链接到微软的Xbox在线游戏。

Longer-term, Skype would offer Microsoft another route to develop its mobile presence, an area it has already put more energy and resources into as PC usage comes under threat.
长期来看，Skype可以为微软公司增强手机占有率提供另外的途径，在一个它已经投入更多精力和资源来作为个人电脑使用的领域受到威胁。

Skype is set to become a new business division within Microsoft with Skype Chief Executive Tony Bates in charge and reporting directly to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Microsoft said.
Skye势必成为微软公司的一个新的商业部门，由Skye的首席执行官Tony Bates负责，并且直接向微软公司总裁Steve Ballmer汇报，微软公司说。

Microsoft shares were down 13 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $25.70 in early Nasdaq trading.
在早期的纳斯达克交易所，微软的股价为25.70美元，下降了13美分，或者说0.5个百分点。

The Skype deal is the biggest in the 36-year history of the world's largest software company. It was first reported late on Monday by tech blog GigaOM.
Skeye是与有着36年历史的世界最大软件公司的最大一笔交易，这首次由科技博客GigaOM于周一晚上进行了报道。

The $8.5 billion price tag was a surprise. Although the sum would not stretch cash-rich Microsoft, some said it was high for a company whose ownership has changed several times during its relatively short life.
85亿美元的标价是一个惊奇，尽管总数对不会限制资金富裕的微软，但有些人认为：对于一个在公司相对较短的生命中所有者变换了很多次的公司来说，价格还是太高了。

"In this atmosphere of Internet Bubble 2.0, picking up an unprofitable online company for roughly 10 times sales probably seems downright cheap," said Shanghai-based Michael Clendenin, managing director of consulting firm RedTech Advisors.
“在充斥着因特网泡沫的氛围中，以大约10倍的销售额收购一个不盈利的在线公司似乎实在是太便宜了”，上海咨询公司RedTech Advisores的总裁Micheael Clendenin说。

"But if you consider (it) was just valued at about $2.5 billion 18 months ago when a chunk was sold off, then $8.5 billion seems generous and means Microsoft has a high wall to climb to prove to investors that Skype is a necessary linchpin for the company's online and mobile strategy," he added.
“但是如果你考虑18给月之前，当一大部分被卖掉时，它的价值仅仅为25亿美元，那么85亿美元似乎很慷慨并且这意味着微软还有很艰难的路要走，因为它要向其投资者证明 Skype对微软公司的在线和移动策略是必须的、非常重要的。”他补充说。

Skype, which was formed in 2003, was bought by eBay Inc in 2005 for $3.1 billion. Last year it had in $860 million in revenue but posted a net loss of $7 million, according to data in its initial public offering filing.
Skype于2003年成立，并且于2005年被eBay用31亿美元购买。去年有8亿6千万美元的收入但是产生了7百万美元的净损失，根据首次公开发行时的数据得出。

In 2009, eBay sold a majority stake in Skype to the investor group for $1.9 billion in cash and a $125 million note. EBay retained about a third.
2009年，eBay将所持有的Skye的大多数股份以19亿美元的现金和1.25亿美元的票据卖给了一组投资商。EBAY保留约三分之一。

Microsoft's Ballmer said his company did not use Wall Street advisers on the deal, approaching the investor group that owns Skype directly. Skype was advised by Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan.
微软的Ballmer说他的公司在交易中没有直接使用华尔街的顾问，直接接触Skype拥有的投资集团。Skype公司的顾问是高盛和摩根大通。

微软以前收购特别抠门。我曾提议收购Nuance，但微软只愿出一亿美金（现在值60亿）。我曾提议收购Google，但微软嫌20亿太贵（现在值1700亿）。后来又错失Overture, Youtube, DoubleClick 。多次被抢走好公司后，微软决定狠狠出价：450亿收购雅虎、60亿收购Aquantive、还有现在的85亿收购Skype。微软从一个超级抠门的收购者演变成为一个饥不择食的大款。看不看好？我觉得还很难说，微软的收购历史不佳，但是Skype也有相当的价值。贵不贵？我觉得有点贵，但还是比一些刚上市的中国互联网公司便宜。——李开复先生原话From my point view, Microsoft was once the monopoly firm in Operating System.And it had not use a dynamic view to analysis the market.While the electric market turns to the telecommunications, the importance of PC is reducing.But Microsoft didn't regard mobile system and app. as its new strategy focus. I hope it would not be too late for Microsoft to start its competition in the mobile app. market.

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