Chinese companies have yet to sate their appetites for foreign cuisine. Nor are their tastes limited to the haute. Yesterday came news that Lexmark, the US maker of printers and business software, will sell itself to a consortium of Chinese companies. The buyers, including Shenzhen listed Apex Technology and a venture capital arm of Hong Kong listed Legend Holdings, will pay $3.6bn in cash, a 17 per cent premium to the previous close.

中國(guó)企業(yè)對(duì)異鄉(xiāng)美食的胃口尚未滿足，他們的品味也不僅限于豪華大餐。昨日傳出消息稱，美國(guó)打印機(jī)和商業(yè)軟件廠商利盟(Lexmark)將被一個(gè)由中國(guó)企業(yè)組成的財(cái)團(tuán)買下。買家包括深圳上市的艾派克科技(Apex Technology)，以及香港上市的聯(lián)想控股(Legend Holdings)旗下的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資部門，他們將支付36億美元現(xiàn)金，相對(duì)于前一日的收盤價(jià)有17%的溢價(jià)。

Lexmark is not junk food but is the sort of meal that requires time in the microwave to be palatable. Its shares have drifted sideways for a decade. With revenues of $3.5bn, it has less than 5 per cent of a market that it estimates at $68bn.

利盟不算是垃圾食品，但仍是那種需要放入微波爐轉(zhuǎn)一轉(zhuǎn)才能入口的餐食。其股價(jià)10年來(lái)基本止步不前。35億美元的營(yíng)收意味著，它在自己估計(jì)規(guī)模為680億美元的市場(chǎng)只有不到5%的占有率。

And it plays in an industry where size matters. Hewlett-Packard has printer sales nearly 6 times as large. Its $3.5bn research and development budget equals Lexmark’s top line and was more than 10 times the $330m the smaller company could afford last year.

而在它所處的行業(yè)，規(guī)模很重要�；萜�(Hewlett-Packard)的打印機(jī)銷量幾乎達(dá)到利盟的6倍。其35億美元的研發(fā)預(yù)算與利盟的營(yíng)收相當(dāng)，并且是利盟去年3.3億美元研發(fā)預(yù)算的10倍多。

Developing new products is critical. While printer supplies have historically been the bulk of revenues, these are threatened as mobile devices replace printouts as a way to read documents. The growth outlook is tough.

開發(fā)新產(chǎn)品是至關(guān)重要的。雖然打印機(jī)耗材歷來(lái)是營(yíng)收中的大頭，但隨著人們轉(zhuǎn)向用移動(dòng)設(shè)備代替打印件閱讀文件，這塊業(yè)務(wù)面臨威脅。增長(zhǎng)前景不容樂觀。

So Lexmark has been investing in its nascent business — document management software. It estimates the market at $12bn but with greater growth potential than printing. Lexmark’s progress in this highly fragmented market has been slow and mostly based on acquisitions that are costly to integrate. Here, too, the company has just 4 per cent market share.

因此，利盟近年投資于其新開辟的業(yè)務(wù)——文件管理軟件。它估計(jì)這個(gè)市場(chǎng)的規(guī)模達(dá)到120億美元，但增長(zhǎng)潛力大于打印市場(chǎng)。利盟在這個(gè)高度分散的市場(chǎng)進(jìn)展緩慢，而且多數(shù)是基于并購(gòu)，整合成本較高。該公司在這個(gè)市場(chǎng)也只有4%的份額。

To offset the costs of growing by acquisition Lexmark has had to cut costs, laying off workers in its printer division. In 2013 it sold its ink-jet division, also to a Chinese buyer.

為了抵消通過(guò)收購(gòu)實(shí)現(xiàn)增長(zhǎng)的成本，利盟不得不削減成本，在其打印機(jī)部門進(jìn)行裁員。該公司在2013年向中國(guó)買家出售了噴墨打印機(jī)部門。

Despite these efforts, a strategic review has concluded that the company’s best option is to sell. Management sees no better alternative. Shareholders should follow their lead while Chinese buyers are still hungry.

盡管有這些努力，一項(xiàng)戰(zhàn)略評(píng)估仍得出這樣的結(jié)論：該公司的選擇是把自己賣掉。管理層找不到更好的選擇。趁著中國(guó)買家還沒吃飽，股東應(yīng)該聽從他們的意見。