Technology listings---Partying like it’s 1999?

Initial public offerings?are back in Silicon Valley?amid the pandemic, after a fashion?

經(jīng)濟學(xué)人8月刊

Another route that has gained?prominence?is the special-purpose acquisition company. These SPACs, as they are known for short, are?shell firms?that go public promising to buy one or more private businesses with the proceeds from the listing. The private business then fills up the listed shell through a reverse merger. SPACs have a?dodgy history; many have underperformed?the broader stockmarket. But the latest lot?promise to fix the?flaws?while preserving the benefits, which include direct negotiations over the purchase price that can make deals faster and more predictable. From January to early August 60 SPAC5 went public, raising $22.5bn. In July Bill Ackman, a?hedge-fund?boss, launched a $5bn-7bn vehicle, the biggest so far.

prominence??n. /?pr?m?n?ns/ ?重要；突出；卓越；出名

? a young actor who has recently risen to prominence 最近嶄露頭角的一名年輕演員

SPAC:special-purpose acquisition company特殊目的收購公司.是為了并購現(xiàn)有公司而公開上市的收購公司。SPAC 也被稱為"targeted acquisition company (TAC)"。SPAC實際上是擁有大量現(xiàn)金的殼公司。專門為未來收購資產(chǎn)和其他公司而設(shè)。

reverse merger：反向兼并也叫做反向收購(reverse takeover、reverse buyout、reverse acquisition)。反向兼并是指一家非上市公司在投資銀行顧問公司的幫助下獲得一家上市殼公司的絕對控股權(quán)。

shell firm?空殼公司。因為公司注冊成立需要時間,但部分人士可能急需注冊成立公司,然后以公司名義簽訂合同或辦理其它業(yè)務(wù)。因此,專業(yè)的咨詢服務(wù)機構(gòu)，通常預(yù)先注冊成立大量公司，以供購買。

Dodgy?/?d?d?i/ ?adj. 狡猾的，逃避的；善于騙人的；躲閃的；有毛病的；運轉(zhuǎn)不良的；狀況不佳的

Underperformed??vt. （股票等）運作差于（一般市場價格）vi. 表現(xiàn)不佳；工作不如預(yù)期（或同行）

Lot是一個多義詞，釋義中有一個指待售商品，這里應(yīng)該指準(zhǔn)備通過SPAC上市的企業(yè)

flaw ?n./fl??/ ?

1.~ (in sth) ?錯誤；缺點??The argument is full of fundamental flaws. 這段論述充滿根本性的錯誤。2.~ (in sth) ?裂痕；裂隙；瑕疵

3.~ (in sb/sth) （性格上的）弱點，缺點??There is always a flaw in the character of a tragic hero. 悲劇主角總有性格上的缺點。

hedge-fund?對沖基金，采用對沖交易手段的基金稱為對沖基金(Hedge Fund)，也稱避險基金或套期保值基金。是指金融期貨和金融期權(quán)等金融衍生工具與金融工具結(jié)合后以營利為目的的金融基金。

It is unclear if Silicon Valley will embrace SPACs wholeheartedly. The biggest tech firm to have used one is Nikola,?a secretive zero-emission-lorry startup which now boasts?a market capitalisation of about $i6bn. Many entrepreneurs and their backers would resist letting their firms be?sucked up into a shell. But SPACs have a place in tech world. On August i8th Kevin Hartz, an early investor in Airbnb and Uber, launched one. Ribbit Capital, a VC firm, is reportedly planning another.

boast ?/b??st/?vt. 夸口說，自吹自擂說；以有…而自豪n. 自夸；值得夸耀的事物，引以為榮的事物vi. 自吹自擂

The IPO-industrial complex is not averse to?direct listings or SPACs, even if they are less?lucrative?than the old-school ways. Bankers predict a diverse future of increasingly tailor-made flotations that, say, target specific investors and predetermine how long staff must hold on to their shares. As Greg Chamberlain of JPMorgan Chase, a bank, sums up, “Not all technology companies are the same. They have different objectives.” So long as startups want to cash in, as all ultimately do, they will need Wall Street to shepherd?them through.

averse to?反對、不樂意·He was averse to any change. 他反對任何改變。

lucrative??adj. /?lu?kr?t?v/賺大錢的；獲利多的?? a lucrative business/contract/market 利潤豐厚的生意╱合同╱市場

predetermine /?pri?d??t??m?n/ 預(yù)先決定；事先安排

譯文

Another route that has gained?prominence?is the special-purpose acquisition company. These SPACs, as they are known for short, are?shell firms?that go public promising to buy one or more private businesses with the proceeds from the listing. The private business then fills up the listed shell through a reverse merger. SPACs have a?dodgy history; many have underperformed?the broader stockmarket. But the latest lot?promise to fix the?flaws?while preserving the benefits, which include direct negotiations over the purchase price that can make deals faster and more predictable. From January to early August 60 SPAC5 went public, raising $22.5bn. In July Bill Ackman, a?hedge-fund?boss, launched a $5bn-7bn vehicle, the biggest so far.

另外一個矚目的路線就是特殊目的收購公司（SPAC）。眾所周知，SPAC出現(xiàn)時間較短，是空殼公司在上市的時候承諾會買一個或多個私有企業(yè)。此后，私有企業(yè)通過反向兼并填補殼公司達(dá)到上市的目的。SPAC有一個狀況不太好的歷史，大部分在股票市場表現(xiàn)不佳。但最新一批承諾彌補這些缺陷并保留原有優(yōu)勢。這包含能夠加快交易和提高可預(yù)測性的對收購價直接議價的優(yōu)勢。今年1月到8月初，共60家SPAC上市，募集資金225億美元。今年7月，一家對沖基金老板，Bill·Ackman上市了價值50億-70億美元的金融工具，是目前最大的SPAC.

It is unclear if Silicon Valley will embrace SPACs wholeheartedly. The biggest tech firm to have used one is Nikola,?a secretive zero-emission-lorry startup which now boasts?a market capitalisation of about $i6bn. Many entrepreneurs and their backers would resist letting their firms be?sucked up into a shell. But SPACs have a place in tech world. On August i8th Kevin Hartz, an early investor in Airbnb and Uber, launched one. Ribbit Capital, a VC firm, is reportedly planning another.

硅谷是否能夠真誠接受SPAC還是一個未知數(shù)。目前為止，嘗試這種途徑上市的是NIKOLA公司，一家神秘的零排放汽車公司，目前撬動市場資本160億美元。很多企業(yè)及其背后資本不愿意其企業(yè)陷入空殼公司。但SPAC在科技企業(yè)中有自己的一席之地。8月18日。Kevince·Hartz，早期投資愛彼迎和Uber的投資者，籌備了一家SPAC。風(fēng)投企業(yè)Ribbit Capital據(jù)說在籌備另一家SPAC。

The IPO-industrial complex is not averse to?direct listings or SPACs, even if they are less?lucrative?than the old-school ways. Bankers predict a diverse future of increasingly tailor-made flotations that, say, target specific investors and predetermine how long staff must hold on to their shares. As Greg Chamberlain of JPMorgan Chase, a bank, sums up, “Not all technology companies are the same. They have different objectives.” So long as startups want to cash in, as all ultimately do, they will need Wall Street to shepherd?them through.

對于IPO綜合行業(yè)來說，并不反對直接上市或者SPAC，盡管他們比傳統(tǒng)上市途徑掙得少。投行預(yù)測未來會有更多樣的定制類型上市途徑，這意味著，可以瞄準(zhǔn)具體投資群體、預(yù)先決定員工持股禁拋時間。正如摩根大通Greg Chamberlain總結(jié)所說：并不是所有的科技企業(yè)都一樣，他們的目標(biāo)都不一樣。只要初創(chuàng)企業(yè)想要融資變現(xiàn)，如大家一樣，他就需要華爾街幫助其進(jìn)入資本市場。