商务礼节美语第67期:首次公开募股(1)

　　公司老板召集手下Lisa和Ken¹开会，商量公司上市的问题。Jerry说，
Jerry: Well, I've called you here today because we have to make a very important decision, one that affects the future of our company. As you know...we have been a privately² held, family owned company for over 120 years, but it has come to my attention that it may be time to consider some major changes.
Lisa: You mean... like becoming a publicly traded company?
J: That's right. It's something we should give serious consideration to.
这家公司120多年来，一直是 privately held, family owned 私人持有、家族经营的公司。Jerry 说，it has come to my attention 意思是我注意到，如今应该考虑采取重大改革了。Lisa 问 Jerry 是不是想成为 a publicly traded company. 上市公司。 Ken 说，
Ken: Wow Jerry! That is a revolutionary idea. Can you tell us why you think this makes good business sense to you?
J: We've been doing quite well on our own and we could probably survive like this for quite a few more years to come, but if we really want to take it to the next level, we are going to have to consider finding more investors³. We simply don't have the funds to make any serious investments towards obtaining a bigger market share. We need funds to grow.
上市从商业角度看，有没有道理呢？换句话说，does it make good business sense? Jerry 解释说，公司保持现状再维持几年肯定没有问题，但如果想 take it to the next level 更上一层楼的话， 就要找到更多的投资人。公司要争取 a bigger market share 更大的市场份额，需要资金，有了资金，才能成长。
K: So our goal in making an initial public offering is to solicit⁴ investors? But then we'll have to accept a Board of Directors chosen by our stockholders. Wouldn't that limit us in many ways?
J: There will certainly be some limitations. But if you consider the massive capital investment that we'll receive, you'll understand that this could take our company from being a medium tier firm to one of the big players.
L: What are the risks of making the decision to become a publicly traded company?
首次公开募股initial public offering也就是公司上市，简称 IPO。上市公司由股东 stockholders 推选董事会 Board of Directors，当然会给公司决策带来一些限制，但是Jerry说，与此同时，上市能筹集到大笔资金，让他们的公司从一个中等层次的公司，变成 one of the big players 举足轻重的大公司之一。从家族企业变成上市公司可能会有哪些风险呢？我们下次继续听。

1 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

2 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

3 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

4 solicit   

vi.勾引；乞求；vt.请求，乞求；招揽(生意)

参考例句：

• Beggars are not allowed to solicit in public places.乞丐不得在公共场所乞讨。
• We should often solicit opinions from the masses.我们应该经常征求群众意见。