布局在线视频 威瑞森44亿美元收购美国在线

Verizon Communications Inc. agreed to buy AOL Inc. in a $4.4 billion deal aimed at advancing the telecom giant’s growth ambitions in mobile video and advertising.

威瑞森电信公司同意以44亿美元收购美国在线，此举是为了满足电信巨头在移动视频和广告方面日益增长的渴望。

The all-cash deal values AOL at $50 a share, a 23% premium over the company’s three-month volume-weighted average price. AOL shares rose 18% in morning trading to $50.18. Verizon shares fell 1.7% to $48.98.

本次收购完全通过现金支付。美国在线的收购价为每股50美元，比过去三个月的成交量加权平均价溢价23%。早间美国在线的股价上涨18%到50.18美元。威瑞森的股价则下跌1.7%到48.98美元。

The acquisition would give Verizon, which has set its sights on entering the crowded online video marketplace, access to advanced technology AOL has developed for selling ads and delivering high-quality Web video.

威瑞森已经将进入拥挤的在线视频市场列为目标。这项收购将让威瑞森能够使用美国在线开发的广告销售与高质量网络视频传播的先进技术。

“Certainly the subscription business and the content businesses are very noteworthy. For us, the principal interest was around the ad tech platform, said Verizon’s president of operations, John Stratton, at a Jefferies investor conference early Tuesday.

威瑞森执行总裁约翰·斯特拉顿在周二上午的杰富瑞投资者大会上表示：“毫无疑问，订阅业务和内容业务非常值得关注。我们主要关心广告技术平台。

The U.S. wireless business has matured in recent years, leaving carriers like Verizon, AT&T Inc. and Sprint Corp. increasingly fighting to steal market share from one another. Offering digital video-over-wireless connections represents a growth avenue in coming years for Verizon, which last year brought in $127 billion in revenue and profit of $12 billion.

近年来，美国的无线业务已经成熟，这使得威瑞森、美国电话电报公司、斯普林特公司等运营商之间争夺彼此市场份额的战争日趋激烈。无线数字视频业务去年带来的收入为1270亿美元，利润120亿美元，它将成为威瑞森公司未来数年的一个增长点。

Verizon has said it plans to launch a video service focused on mobile devices this summer. The company has offered few details, but last month Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo said the service would offer a mix of paid, free and ad-supported content and wouldn’t try to replicate traditional TV.

威瑞森宣称计划在今夏推出针对移动设备的视频服务。虽然尚未提供多少细节，但上个月公司的首席财务官弗兰·沙莫表示该服务将提供收费、免费和可以加入广告的多种形式的内容，并且不会试图复制传统电视的做法。