经济学人: 制药公司并购:致死还是治愈？(2)

 But the sheer size of the deal elicited¹ resistance. 但是该交易的绝对规模引发了抗议。

A group of shareholders² led by Kazuhisa Takeda, a descendant of the founding family and a former board director, 以武田和久（创始家族的子孙兼前董事）为首的一群股东

and Shigeru Mishima, a former stockmarket analyst³, was bitterly disappointed by this week's approval. 以及前股市分析师Shigeru Mishima对本周的批准感到心寒。

On the question of why the group opposed the acquisition, Mr Mishima cites "risk, risk, risk!". 关于他们为什么反对收购，Mishima先生引述，“风险，风险，风险！”

Local rivals, Astellas and Daiichi Sankyo, which have chosen to make smaller acquisitions, of American biotechnology companies, 当地竞争对手安斯泰来制药和第一三共选择了收购较小的美国生物技术公司

have seen their shares rise by 18% and 43% respectively, as Takeda's have fallen. 他们的股价分别增长18%和43%，而武田制药则在下跌。

The dissidents may have a point. Scope for cost-cutting is relatively⁴ limited. 持异议者或许是有道理的。消减成本的前景相对有限。

It will saddle the combined entity⁵ with $48bn of net debt, or over five times its expected annual operating earnings⁶. 公司将承担合并实体480亿美元的净债务，或超过其预期年度营业收益的五倍。

To bring the huge cost of servicing this down, Mr Weber will have to dispose of promising⁷ products worth $5bn after the firms merge⁸, on January 8th. 为了降低其巨大的成本，Weber先生将不得不在1月8日完成收购后，转让市场前景看好的产品，价值50亿美元。

He claims strong combined cash-flow will help pay down debt quickly, 他宣称强大的合并现金流将帮助迅速偿还债务，

but Shire's haemophilia drugs, worth a quarter of its revenues in 2017, are threatened by new drugs from other big pharma firms. 但是夏尔的血友病药物（该药物在2017年占其收入的四分之一）受到了来自其他大型制药商新型药物的威胁。

Mr Takeda and other dissident shareholders do not deny the company needs to diversify⁹ its range of products. 武田先生和其他持异议的股东并不否认公司需要将产品范围多样化。

Nor, they claim, are they against acquisitions or globalisation. But the dose makes the poison. Swallowing Shire could prove toxic¹⁰. 他们宣称他们并非反对收购或全球化。但是剂量决定毒性。吞并夏尔可能证明是有毒的。

 

1 elicited   

引出，探出( elicit的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Threats to reinstate the tax elicited jeer from the Opposition. 恢复此项征税的威胁引起了反对党的嘲笑。
• The comedian's joke elicited applause and laughter from the audience. 那位滑稽演员的笑话博得观众的掌声和笑声。

2 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

3 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

4 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

5 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

6 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

7 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

8 merge   

v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体

参考例句：

• I can merge my two small businesses into a large one.我可以将我的两家小商店合并为一家大商行。
• The directors have decided to merge the two small firms together.董事们已决定把这两家小商号归并起来。

9 diversify   

v.（使）不同，（使）变得多样化

参考例句：

• Our company is trying to diversify.我们公司正力图往多样化方面发展。
• Hills and woods diversify the landscape.山陵和树木点缀景色。

10 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。