Name: 沙特對Uber的35億美元賭注 - Lex (Saudi Arabia’s $3.5bn bet on Uber | Lex)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T06:08:56.000Z
Duration: 3 min 51 s

過去簡單式

Charles, overnight came news that Uber, the ride-hailing app,

has secured a 3 and a half billion dollar investment from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.

獲得沙烏地主權財富基金注資35億美元

祈使句型

Let's start by asking, why on earth does Uber need this money?

我們就開門見山的說了，為何 Uber 需要這筆資金呢？

I thought it was swimming in cash as it is.

他們不是本來就財源廣進了嗎？

It does have a lot of cash, and boy does it need a lot of cash.

該公司確實營收表現優良，但他們仍需要大筆現金

I mean if you at its figures, it's growing at rates that are very hard to get your head around.

從數據來看，他們增值的速度遠遠超過你能預料

I mean we only know a little bit about it cuz it's a private company.

我們只能得到片面的資訊，畢竟 Uber 為私有企業

The sort of figures we have are (subject) come from a leak.

But effectively its first half revenues for last year were way more than the whole of the year before,

該公司2015年上半年的營收已超越前年的總營收

so [it's] growing at over 100% but still burning cash.

雖然呈現百分之百的成長，但 Uber 仍持續在燒錢

So the only reason it has a whole lot of cash is for a private company, and this is one of what the features that makes it really interesting.

對於一個私人企業來說，能夠擁有那麼多的資金其實是非常值得探討的

It's raised a huge amount of money in private placements.

So this 3 and a half billion adds to something like 9 or 10 billion or more that's already been raised privately, and it's valuing it at 60 billion dollars so far already.

所以這款35億的資金再加上 Uber 原先私募到的90至100億美元，已將該公司的市值推至600億美元

So it needs that cash because it's currently still at that growth phase that means you burn a lot of it investing in new growth in new cities (every) all the time.

他們現在還需要這筆錢，因為該他們現在仍處於成長期，在各地投資都會燒掉一大筆資金

And it hasn't yet reached that point of turning a profit as it were.

Okay, well in the old days of course, company if you wanted a load of cash from investors, you go to a stock exchange to get it.

以往企業如果想要投資者的大筆資金，都會到股市募資

Presumably an IPO is not on the cards here.

我們假設首次公開募股並不是他們的策略

Is that because they don't want to IPO, they want to remain a private company?

是因為他們不想首次公開募股，才維持私人企業的經營方式嗎？

Or is it because they don't have the profits yet to tell a compelling story.

還是因為他們的營收還不夠吸引買主的目光？

Well it's interesting. I mean not having profits hasn't mean... didn't put off Amazon a long time ago.

這就有趣了，因為當初亞馬遜的營收表現也沒有很亮眼，卻仍選擇首次公開募股

But then whenever they score this sort of poor cash figure, they kind of got worried, Amazon.

但亞馬遜每次營收表現不佳，便會憂心忡忡

So Uber seems to have an unusual degree of confidence that it can keep going as a private company in this kind of state.

反觀Uber，他們似乎有非比尋常的信心繼續以私人企業的方式營運

Is it unwilling to go private... public? Yeah, absolutely.

所以他們不太願意上市嗎？沒錯

I mean partly they've seen the sort of hassle you get when you become a public company, you get subjected to more scrutiny.

他們大概也知道上市公司的麻煩在於要受到更多人的監督

And Uber is arguably even more controversial than the presidence it's looking at, like Facebook.

而 Uber 甚至比他的臉書前輩更有爭議

Wherever it goes, wherever it tries to grow, it tends to attract its regulatory scrutiny, protests from local incumbents, the taxi companies it's competing against.

無論他們去哪裡設點，都會引來法規的監督和在地計程車業者的抗議

So, it's probably thinking, we will have an easier time if we can raise cash at this rather handsome evaluation, but keep away from all of that scrutiny.

他們或許看好目前的情況，認為募資比較容易，還能避開外界的監督

And of course it avoids the hassle of external investors as well.

而且還能省去外部投資者的麻煩

So if you're a Netflix or a Tesla Motors and you've constantly got people on your case about your profits and your cash flow,

像 Netflix 或 Tesla Motors 這類公司的營收和現金流經常受到外界介入

但 Uber 私有經營的方式就沒有這種困擾

Yeah, and that's a huge amount of the chief executive's time.

是的，那可是會佔去企業總裁一大半時間的

那對於沙烏地阿拉伯的情況又是如何？

I mean Saudi is famously trying to diversify their economy away from heavy oil dependence.

沙國想要尋求石油以外的財源管道早已眾所皆知

Where does it fit into the scheme of things for them?

那投資 Uber 對該國經濟有何助益？

Well, Uber as a service is incredibly popular in Saudi Arabia.

Uber 提供的服務在沙國大受歡迎

Partly because women are not allowed to drive, 70-80% of Uber users in Saudi Arabia are women, and so it's growing quite fast there.

一部分是因為沙國規定女人不許開車，而 Uber 在當地有七至八成的客源為女性，所以成長非常快速

This is another advantage from Uber's point of view.

Saudi Arabia investing 3 and a half billion in this company means they know they're not going to get regulatory problems there, it's gonna remain a popular service.

沙國注資 Uber 35億美元意味著他們將不受法規的控管，並且持續受民眾歡迎

As for Saudi Arabia, changing their economy this way, well of course it has a new economy shtick to it compared to the old oil-based economy they are.

對沙國而言，這是讓他們脫離以往過度依賴石油經濟的策略之一

Whether they actually gain any particular technological advantage by having the investment, I'm not so sure.

我不太確定 Uber 是否真的能藉此投資得到技術上的優勢，

If Uber turns out to be profitable and makes a huge amount of money than the 60 billion evaluation,

如果 Uber 真的表現亮眼，使市值超越600億美元

if it matches what Facebook did, that might double or triple.

如果他們可以達到臉書的水平，甚至是超出兩到三倍

So a great investment from the financial point of view,

那就財務觀點來看，這筆資金是值得的

I struggle to see how Saudi Arabia's basic economy becomes less oil dependent just cuz they've made a good punt on a ride-sharing app though.

但對於沙國想要藉此投資擺脫依賴石油的經濟模式，我並不是非常看好