单选题
With a series of well-timed deals, private-equity firms are giving traditional media- managers cause to be envious. The Warner Music transaction, in which Edgar Bronfman junior and three private-equity firms paid Time Warner $ 2.6 billion for the unit in 2003, is already judged a financial triumph for the buyers. Their success is likely to draw still more private-equity into the industry. And the investments are likely to get bigger: individual private-equity funds are growing--a $10 billion fund is likely this year--so even the biggest media firms could come within range, especially if private-equity investors club together. Some private-equity firms have long put money in media assets, but mostly reliable, relatively obscure businesses with stable cash flows. Now, some of them are placing big strategic bets on the more volatile bits, such as music and movies. And they are currently far more confident than the media old guard that the advertising cycle is about to turn sharply upwards. One reason why private-equity is making its presence felt in media is that it has a lot of money to invest. Other industries are feeling its weight too. But private-equity's buying spree (狂购乱买) reveals a lot about the media business in particular. Media conglomerates( 联合公司) lack the confidence to make big acquisitions, after the last wave of deals went wrong. Executives at Time Warner, for instance, which disastrously merged with AOL in 2000, wanted to buy MGM, a movie studio, but the board (it is said) were too nervous. Instead, private- equity firms combined with Sony, a consumer-electronics giant, to buy MGM late last year. Private-equity's interest also reflects the fact that revenue growth in media businesses such as broadcast TV and radio is now hard to come by. The average annual growth rate for 12 categories of established American media businesses in 1998-2003, excluding the internet, was just 3.4% , says Veronis Suhler Stevenson, an investment bank. Private-equity puts a higher value on low-growth, high cashflow assets than the public stockmarket, says Jonathan Nelson, founder of Providence Equity Partners, a media-focused private-equity firm. What private-equity men now bring to the media business, they like to think, is financial discipline plus an enthusiastic attitude towards new technology. Old-style media managers, claim the newcomers, are still in denial about how technology is transforming their industry. Traditional media managers grudgingly agree that, so far, private-equity investors are doing very nicely indeed from their entertainment deals. The buyers of Warner Music have already got back most of their $ 2.6 billion from the firm by cutting costs, issuing debt and making special payouts to shareholders. This year, its investors are expected to launch an initial public offering, which could bring them hundreds of millions more.
单选题
The best title for the text might be [A] Private-Equity and the Media Industry. [B] Private-Equity and Traditional Media Managers. [C] Private-Equity's Role in Economic Development. [D] Private-Equity Has Much Profit to Make.
单选题
Traditional media managers might be envious because [A] Warner Music was acquired by private-equity firms at a very low price. [B] private-equity firms seem to be benefiting a lot from recent acquisitions. [C] more and more private-equity firms are entering the media industry. [D] even the biggest media firms could be acquired by private-equity firms.
单选题
It can be inferred from the text that [A] private-equity pays more attention to fast growing industries. [B] newcomers deny the fact that technology is vital to media industry. [C] traditional media managers often deny the importance of technology. [D] the public stock market accentuates business with more cashflow.
单选题
The case of the executives at Time Warner was cited to show that [A] it was a big disaster for them to have merged with AOL in 2000. [B] the board of Time Warner was not qualified to lead the company. [C] MGM would give its buyer a sharper competitive edge. [D] leading media companies were "once bitten, twice shy".