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In its heyday, Yelp got the attention of American consumers with reviews of local businesses. The company’s slow growth and lacklustre share price performance have now brought it scathing critiques from an activist investor.
在其鼎盛時期，Yelp透過對當地企業的評論吸引了美國消費者的注意。而該公司緩慢的成長和低迷的股價表現，如今招致了一位維權投資者的嚴厲批評。
On Tuesday, TCS Capital Management called for Yelp to explore a sale or combine with online services company Angi. TCS, which holds a stake of more than 4 per cent in Yelp, claims it is “shockingly undervalued” and worth more than twice its share price.
週二，TCS資本管理公司呼籲Yelp考慮出售或與在線服務公司Angi合併。持有Yelp逾4%股份的TCS聲稱，該公司股價「被嚴重低估」，其價值應是其股價的兩倍多。
That looks a stretch. Founded in 2004, Yelp popularised user-generated write-ups. It quickly became the dominant platform for restaurant and business reviews. Rapid growth led to a splashy initial public offering in 2012. At its peak in 2014, the stock traded at nearly $100. Even after Tuesday’s 8 per cent price gain, these change hands at just $35.
這看起來有點牽強。Yelp成立於2004年，推廣了用戶生成的評論。它很快成爲餐廳和企業評論的主要平臺。快速成長導致該公司在2012年進行了引人注目的首次公開發行(IPO)。在2014年的高峯期，其股票交易價格接近100美元。現在，即使在週二價格上漲8%之後，這些股票的成交價也僅爲35美元。
Yelp has struggled to fend off rivals. Hungry diners can turn to Google, Open Table, Urbanspoon and even Instagram to find restaurant recommendations. Meanwhile, small business appraisals have become more fragmented and specialised. Angi, owner of Angie’s List, focuses on home improvement and local tradesmen.
Yelp一直在努力抵禦競爭對手的攻擊。飢餓的食客可以轉向谷歌、Open Table、Urbanspoon甚至是Instagram來尋找餐廳推薦。與此同時，小企業的評估也變得更加分散和專業化。Angie's List的所有者Angi專注於家庭裝修和當地商人。
Yelp generated $1.2bn in revenue last year, helped by gains in advertising sales. But its share of US digital advertising spending stood at just 0.4 per cent last year, down from 0.9 per cent in 2017, according to research group Insider Intelligence.
在廣告銷售成長的推動下，Yelp去年實現了12億美元的收入。但研究機構Insider Intelligence的數據顯示，去年其在美國數字廣告支出中所佔的份額僅爲0.4%，低於2017年的0.9%。
Merging with Angi, as proposed by TCS, should generate cost savings. But Angi loses money and trades at just 0.8 times revenue, compared with Yelp’s 1.8 times. Given the tough environment for digital ad sales, even with economies, there is no guarantee that the business will be on a better footing for growth.
按照TCS的提議，與Angi合併應能節省成本。但Angi處於虧損狀態，市盈率僅爲0.8倍，而Yelp爲1.8倍。考慮到數字廣告銷售的艱難環境，即使有節約措施，也無法保證該業務將有更好的成長基礎。
Yelp has a solid balance sheet with no debt. It holds $414mn in cash and cash equivalents which may have attracted TCS.
Yelp擁有穩健的資產負債表，沒有債務。它持有4.14億美元的現金和現金等價物，這可能吸引了TCS。
A better solution for Yelp than a combination with Angi would therefore be a private equity buyout. A decent cash payout would then generate positive reviews from minority investors.
因此，對Yelp來說，比與Angi合併更好的解決方案是由私募股權收購。然後，體面的現金支付將獲得少數股東的積極評價。
