《经济学人》双语：韩国音乐公司收购案，剧情发展堪比狗血韩剧

原文标题：Entertainment K-popolyA corporate liaison at the heart of the Korean music business娱乐韩国流行音乐垄断韩国音乐领域核心企业的联姻

A takeover battle sheds light on the industry’s unusual vertical integration一场收购战揭示了音乐领域不同寻常的垂直整合

[Paragraph 1]FANS OF SOUTH KOREA’S wildly successful pop industry are used to the intrigue surrounding new groups, band members’ romances and their misbehaviour.

粉丝们已经习惯了韩国流行音乐产业的各种炒作，包括新团体包装、乐队成员恋情及不当行为等炒作。

Now a new source of K-pop drama has emerged from an unexpected quarter.

现在，新一季度发生的事情出乎意料，可拍成一部韩剧。

On February 10th HYBE, an entertainment house which represents the genre’s biggest name, BTS, agreed to buy a 14.8% stake in SM Entertainment, a rival, from its founder and former chief producer, Lee Soo-man.

2月10日，HYBE同意收购SM创始人兼前首席制片人李秀满持有的14.8%的股份。HYBE是当下最火的防弹少年团背后的娱乐公司。

Mr Lee, who is no longer involved in his firm’s day-to-day business, would be left with roughly 4%, making HYBE its largest shareholder.

李秀满不再参与公司的日常业务，他将只剩下4%左右的股份，而HYBE将成为SM最大的股东。

In pursuit of an even closer tie-up, HYBE simultaneously launched a tender offer to buy another 25% at a similar premium to the shares’ market price that it is paying Mr Lee.

与此同时，为了寻求更紧密的合作，HYBE发起了一项收购要约，以高于股市的价格继续收购SM小额股东25%的股份，这价格与支付给李秀满的价格一致。

SM Entertainment says it will resist any attempt at a hostile takeover.

SM称公司将反对任何恶意收购。

The stage is set for a corporate showdown worthy of any pop feud.

舞台已经准备就绪，迎接娱乐公司最后的胜负战。

[Paragraph 2]HYBE and SM Entertainment are the two largest listed K-pop companies, with a combined market capitalisation of nearly $9bn.

HYBE和SM是韩国最大的2家上市音乐公司，总市值近90亿美元。

A full merger would create an industry powerhouse, capturing a large chunk of South Korea’s music-production business.

两家公司完全合并将成为一个行业巨头，会在韩国音乐制作领域占很大比例。

SM Entertainment is particularly strong in talent-scouting. Three years ago it established its own school in Seoul, which now offers three-year courses in everything from vocals and dance to production.

SM特别擅长挖掘有明星潜质的人才。3年前，它在首尔建立了自己的学校，现在提供声乐、舞蹈、制作等内容的3年期课程。

HYBE, for its part, dominates music distribution through Weverse, a digital platform that hosts exclusive content such as live-streamed concerts and lessons where BTS members teach foreign fans Korean.HYBE擅长通过Weverse数字平台发行音乐，这个平台可以储存独家内容，如现场直播演唱会，防弹少年团成员教外国粉丝的韩语课程。

[Paragraph 3]Vertical integration is not unusual in Korean show business.

垂直整合在韩国演艺界并不罕见。

JYP Entertainment, another K-pop house, has a TV-production subsidiary. YG Entertainment, another rival, runs a modelling agency.

韩国另一家音乐公司JYP有一家电视制作子公司。另一家对手公司YG有一家模特经纪公司。

They take the raw material (an artist) and transform it into the finished products (content), using a finely tuned production process.

他们以原材料（艺术家）为基础，并通过精心调整的生产流程将其转化为成品（内容）。

As Lee Jang-woo of Kyungpook National University observes, this innovation strategy has a lot in common with South Korea’s high-tech manufacturing industry.

正如庆北大学的李章宇所观察到的那样，这种娱乐产品创新战略与韩国高科技制造业有很多共同之处。

K-pop firms may learn as much from conglomerates like Samsung and Hyundai as from Western labels such as Warner and Universal. 韩国音乐公司从“三星”和“现代”这样的企业集团学到的东西，可能与从“华纳”和“环球”这样的西方企业学到的东西一样多。

[Paragraph 4]For HYBE, combining with SM Entertainment would allow it to diversify away from BTS, notes Douglas Kim, an independent analyst of Korea Inc.

韩国公司的独立分析师道格拉斯·金称，对于HYBE来说，它与SM合并将打造多样化的艺人团体，不仅限于防弹少年团。

This is especially important now that the supergroup has confirmed it will hit pause until 2025, while its seven members undergo the mandatory 18 months of military service.

这一点显得尤为重要。防弹少年团已证实团队将暂停工作到2025年，因为有7名成员将履行18个月的服兵役义务。

SM Entertainment’s managers may worry that an investigation from Korean trustbusters, who must review any transaction involving more than 15% of shares, could be a distraction.

SM的管理者可能担心，韩国反垄断者的调查可能会分散公司的注意力。因为反垄断机构必须对任何涉及15%以上的股份交易进行审查。

They would rather pursue a partnership with Kakao, a Korean internet giant to which they had just sold 9% of their firm in newly issued shares.SM宁愿与韩国互联网巨头Kakao建立合作关系，他们刚刚将公司9%的新发行股份出售给了Kakao。

[Paragraph 5]That may not be enough to stop HYBE. SM Entertainment’s share price is up by nearly 50% since the sale of Mr Lee’s stake to HYBE was announced, implying that investors quite like the sound of a union. 这可能不足以阻止HYBE的收购行动。李秀满的股份出售给HYBE的消息公布后，SM的股价上涨了近50%，这意味着投资者们非常乐意看到两家公司合并。

（恭喜读完，本篇英语词汇量524左右）原文出自：2023年2月18日《The Economist》Business版块。

精读笔记来源于：自由英语之路

本文翻译整理: Irene本文编辑校对: Irene

仅供个人英语学习交流使用。

【补充资料】（来自于网络）垂直整合（Vertical Integration）是一种提高或降低公司对于其投入和产出分配控制水平的方法，也即公司对其生产投入、产品或服务的分配的控制程度。直整合意味着公司的价值链与其供应商、经销商价值链之间的整合水平。航空业的垂直整合也许最为典型。

HYBE是一家韩国娱乐公司，前身为2005年方时赫成立的Big Hit Entertainment ，2021年更名为HYBE 。HYBE由韩国本部HYBE、美国本部HYBE AMERICA、日本本部HYBE JAPAN组成。业务上区分为Label、Solution、Platform。旗下各厂牌（Label）独立开展活动，包括SOURCE MUSIC等。Solution开展以音乐为基础的演出、视频内容、IP、教学、游戏等业务，包括HYBE 360、HYBE IPX等 。Platform连接并拓展HYBE所有内容与服务，Platform包括Weverse Company 。旗下艺人有李贤，防弹少年团等。

韩国SM娱乐有限公司（S.M.Entertainment）是韩国一间大型艺人企划和经纪公司，由歌手出身的李秀满于1989年创办。其名称“SM”为英文“Star Museum”的缩写，意为“明星博物馆、名人殿堂”。旗下代表艺人有宝儿、东方神起、Super Junior、少女时代等。

JYP娱乐（JYP Entertainment）是韩国歌手朴振荣创立的经纪公司。YG Entertainment是韩国著名的上市娱乐公司，由已解散的90年代当红团体“徐太志和孩子们”团员之一的梁铉锡于1996年所创立。

Kakao Talk是一款来自韩国的由中国腾讯担任第二大股东的免费聊天软件，类似于QQ微信的聊天软件。2023年2月7日，韩联社消息，韩国互联网巨头Kakao公布，公司收购SM娱乐9.05%的股份，成为其第二大股东。

【重点句子】（3 个）The stage is set for a corporate showdown worthy of any pop feud. 舞台已经准备就绪，迎接娱乐公司最后的胜负战。

A full merger would create an industry powerhouse, capturing a large chunk of South Korea’s music-production business.两家公司完全合并将成为一个行业巨头，会在韩国音乐制作领域占很大比例。

They take the raw material (an artist) and transform it into the finished products (content), using a finely tuned production process.他们以原材料（艺术家）为基础，并通过精心调整的生产流程将其转化为成品（内容）。