阿里巴巴IPO五大方面值得關注

When Chinese e-commerce juggernaut Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. files its paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission for what is expected to be one of the biggest initial public offerings in history, investors will finally get a look under the under the hood of this massive and fast-growing company.

在中國電商巨頭阿里巴巴集團(Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.)向美國證券交易委員會(Securities and Exchange Commission)提交首次公開募股(IPO)相關文件之時，投資者總算可以一窺這家快速增長、規模龐大的公司的內情。阿里巴巴IPO預計將會是歷史上規模最大的IPO交易之一。

While little known to most Americans, Alibaba's position as the biggest play on e-commerce in the world's second-largest economy means it will draw intense scrutiny from money managers.

儘管阿里巴巴並不爲多數美國人所熟知，但作爲中國這個世界第二大經濟體的電子商務龍頭，阿里巴巴肯定會受到投資經理人的密切審視。

As investors try to figure out how much Alibaba stock will be worth, the major question is how fast Alibaba will grow in coming years. Right now, little is known about the details of the company's businesses, aside from some basic details made public thanks to Yahoo Inc., a long-time investor in Alibaba.

投資者在預估阿里巴巴股價時的一個重要問題是，阿里巴巴未來幾年的增長速度會有多快。眼下除了阿里巴巴長期股東雅虎公司(Yahoo Inc.)公佈的一些基本細節外，人們對該公司業務知之甚少。

Alibaba's IPO prospectus will hint at some answers.

阿里巴巴的招股說明書或將解答一些疑惑。

1 WHAT'S GOING PUBLIC?

1，哪些業務參與上市？

Alibaba operates dozens of businesses-sharing traits with the likes of eBay Inc., Inc. and Google Inc. The sprawl has led to some confusion among U.S. investors, said Victor Anthony, an Internet media analyst at Topeka Capital Markets. 'Investors are uncertain exactly what assets will be included as part of the IPO,' he said.

與eBay Inc.、亞馬遜()和谷歌公司(Google Inc.)一樣，阿里巴巴經營着數十種業務。Topeka Capital Markets互聯網媒體分析師安東尼(Victor Anthony)稱，阿里巴巴種類繁多的業務令美國投資者感到困惑。他說，投資者不確定IPO到底包括哪些資產。

Among its units, Alibaba's Taobao site offers a consumer-to-consumer marketplace. Brands like Nike and Disney use its Tmall site as a marketplace to sell directly to Chinese consumers. Alibaba also has a 'cloud-computing' business that, like Amazon's Web Services unit, lets companies rent computer storage and processing power over the Web rather than buying their own servers. One thing that won't be included in the deal, according to analysts and Wall Street Journal reporting, is the Alibaba-affiliated PayPal-like company Alipay.

阿里巴巴的淘寶網()是一家消費者間(C2C)購物平臺，而耐克(Nike)、迪士尼(Disney)等品牌在阿里巴巴旗下天貓網()上向中國客戶直接銷售產品。與亞馬遜的互聯網服務部門一樣，阿里巴巴也設有云計算業務，企業可租用其計算機，通過互聯網進行數據存儲和處理，而無需自行購買服務器。

2 WHAT'S THE REVENUE BREAKDOWN?

2. 收入明細

While Alibaba's recent overall revenue figures are known, it's unclear exactly what parts of the company are driving that growth. The IPO filing is expected to show which business lines are most important, which are picking up steam and which are slowing.

據分析人士及《華爾街日報》(The Wall Street Journal)報道，阿里巴巴旗下類似貝寶(PayPal)的第三方電子支付平臺支付寶(Alipay)將不在此次上市的業務範圍內。

3 HOW MUCH MONEY GETS SPENT THROUGH ALIBABA?

3. 通過阿里巴巴交易的資金數量有多大？

Alibaba is largely a middleman, helping sellers market their wares and buyers find what they need. And for the most part, it makes money by charging commissions on those sales. That makes transaction volumes one of the more important metrics points for investors looking to understand both Alibaba and the growth of China's online retail market in general.

雖然阿里巴巴最近的整體收入數字是衆所周知的，但推動這種增長的到底是該公司哪些業務並不清楚。IPO文件預計將顯示出其哪些業務線是最重要的，哪些業務在加快發展，哪些在放緩。

The Wall Street Journal has reported that Alibaba's Taobao and Tmall sites reached $240 billion in combined transaction volume last year. By way of contrast, EBay posted $76.5 billion last year in so-called 'gross merchandise volume' excluding vehicles.

Bernstein & Co.分析師Carlos Kirjner給客戶的一份報告顯示，他估計淘寶和天貓網站合計在阿里巴巴集團2013財年總收入中佔了85%的比例。但目前是多少很難精確估計。

4 HOW MUCH CASH DOES THE COMPANY HAVE?Alibaba has spent more than $3.5 billion since the start of last year on acquisitions, The Wall Street Journal has reported. Investors will want to know if it can continue its buying spree, and if so, what types of companies is it looking to acquire? IPO filings typically contain a balance sheet and cash-flow statement which detail how much cash the company is generating, and how much it has in the bank. Investors will also likely have questions about what the company plans to do with its cash. But investors may not get all the info they want on this front, as IPO documents are typically light on management predictions about future deal making.

阿里巴巴基本上扮演着中間人的角色，幫助賣家營銷商品，同時也幫助買家找到他們所需的東西。在很大程度上，阿里巴巴的收入是通過對這些銷售收取佣金。因此投資者如果想要了解阿里巴巴乃至整個中國網絡零售市場的增長狀況，交易量就成了更爲重要的度量指標之一。

5 WHAT WE WON'T KNOW:For starters, how big the IPO actually will be. The top of the filing will include a proposed dollar value of the size of the IPO, but this number is just a placeholder used to calculate certain fees and is almost sure to change. The company will disclose its estimated valuation in an amended F-1 filing when it launches its marketing 'road show' months later. Knowing Alibaba's proposed valuation is crucial to investors, who will compare valuation metrics like its price-to-earnings ratio with those of already-public peers. The first filing will also lack details on how many shares the company or existing holders are offering, and may not detail first-quarter financial results.

MATT JARZEMSKY 《華爾街日報》曾報道，阿里巴巴旗下淘寶和天貓網站去年合計交易量爲2,400億美元。相比之下，EBay宣佈去年除汽車之外的商品交易額爲765億美元。