英国卫报:走向失控的博姿药妆(8)

Prescription¹ drugs, two packets of Beechams, a Shaper sandwich and some Brecon Carreg water.

处方药，两包美占集团的药物，一个塑身三明治和一些布雷肯克雷格水。

Over a century and a half, Boots had built up a business that serviced the most prosaic² aspects of British life.

在一个半世纪的时间里，博姿创办了一家服务于英国人生活中最平淡无奇的方面的公司。

Exciting, dynamic, a licence to print money? Nah.

令人兴奋，充满活力，一张印钞许可证？不是。

But at its core was a stability underwritten by government money, public goodwill³ and a solid reputation.

但其核心是由政府资金、公众信誉和坚实的声誉担保的稳定性。

Outwardly, 2007 changed nothing. The pharmacists still wore white coats.

从表面上看，2007年没有什么改变。药剂师仍然穿着白大褂。

The sign outside the shop was still the same blue and white cursive logo dating back to 1883.

商店外的标志仍然是1883年以来的蓝白草书标志。

But behind the trusty facade⁴ was “the story of how one business model colonises another,”

伦敦玛丽女王大学会计与金融学教授科林·哈斯拉姆表示，

according to Colin Haslam, professor in accounting⁵ and finance at Queen Mary University of London.

但在可信的外表背后是“一个商业模式如何征服另一个商业模式的故事，”

The everyday needs and ailments⁶ of communities across the UK

英国社区的日常需求和疾病治疗

had been reconfigured as thousands of little revenue streams for a small transnational elite⁷ of ultra-wealthy investors⁸,

已经被重新配置为成千上万的小收入流，为一小撮跨国的超级富有的投资者精英们服务，

whose fortunes depended on those streams getting bigger, and fast.

他们的财富越来越多地依赖于那些收入流，而且很快。

To see how that changed our medical services, I asked Haslam to examine the accounts of Boots UK, the main British subsidiary of the continental⁹ conglomerate¹⁰ Alliance Boots.

为了了解这种情况如何改变了我们的医疗服务，我请哈斯拉姆检查了博姿英国公司的账目，博姿英国公司是联合博姿在英国的主要子公司。

The investors’ method, as Haslam describes it, was “stretch and extract”: stretch company finances and staff as far as they can go – then extract profits.

正如哈斯拉姆所描述的，投资者的方法是“扩张和榨取”：尽可能扩大公司资金和员工，然后榨取利润。

Stretching began immediately, by loading up the new asset with billions in debt.

扩张立即开始，在新资产猛增的同时，公司背上了数十亿美元的债务。

To buy Alliance Boots, Pessina and KKR had invested 2.5bn pounds of their own money – but they borrowed almost 9bn pounds from Barclays,

为了收购联合博姿，佩西纳和科克罗公司动用了25亿英镑自有资金——但它们从巴克莱银行、

the Royal Bank of Scotland, Citigroup, JP Morgan, and Merrill Lynch among other banks.

苏格兰皇家银行、花旗集团、摩根大通和美林等银行借款近90亿英镑。

The borrowed billions were then shoved onto the balance sheet of Boots UK Ltd –

随后，借来的数十亿美元被推到了博姿英国有限公司的资产负债表上

and those banks jumped to the front of the queue for repayment¹¹ out of the profits made by the company.

这些银行抢在了排队的最前面，要求从该公司赚取的利润中偿还借款。

1 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

2 prosaic   

adj.单调的，无趣的

参考例句：

• The truth is more prosaic.真相更加乏味。
• It was a prosaic description of the scene.这是对场景没有想象力的一个描述。

3 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

4 facade   

n.(建筑物的)正面，临街正面；外表

参考例句：

• The entrance facade consists of a large full height glass door.入口正面有一大型全高度玻璃门。
• If you look carefully,you can see through Bob's facade.如果你仔细观察，你就能看穿鲍勃的外表。

5 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

6 ailments   

疾病（尤指慢性病），不适( ailment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His ailments include a mild heart attack and arthritis. 他患有轻度心脏病和关节炎。
• He hospitalizes patients for minor ailments. 他把只有小病的患者也送进医院。

7 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

8 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

9 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

10 conglomerate   

n.综合商社，多元化集团公司

参考例句：

• The firm has been taken over by an American conglomerate.该公司已被美国一企业集团接管。
• An American conglomerate holds a major share in the company.一家美国的大联合企业持有该公司的大部分股份。

11 repayment   

n.偿还，偿还款；报酬

参考例句：

• I am entitled to a repayment for the damaged goods.我有权利索取货物损坏赔偿金。
• The tax authorities have been harrying her for repayment.税务局一直在催她补交税款。