華爾街一直有一個不解之迷：企業(yè)在那里能購買的最昂貴的東西，即首次公開發(fā)行(IPO)，似乎從來不會承受定價壓力。

One of the dark mysteries of Wall Street is that just about the most expensive thing a company can buy there - an initial public offering - never seems to come under heavy pricing pressure.

當(dāng)銀行家們躍躍欲試，爭取在逐漸復(fù)蘇的IPO市場中有所作為的時候，業(yè)內(nèi)人士則開始懷疑，這種違背經(jīng)濟學(xué)規(guī)律的現(xiàn)象能否持續(xù)。

With bankers scrambling again for a slice of an increasingly busy IPO market, industry experts are wondering if this defiance of gravity and economics may soon be tested.

華爾街對IPO之所以情有獨鐘，是因為IPO的收費標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，遠遠高于承銷高收益?zhèn)�券�?%，公司債券銷售的0.9%，以及就并購事宜提供咨詢的0.25-0.5%。

Wall Street loves IPOs because they command fees well above the 3 per cent fee for underwriting high yield bond sales, the 0.9 per cent fee for corporate bond sales, and 0.25-0.5 per cent for advising on mergers and acquisitions.

隨著競爭的加劇和運作方式的產(chǎn)品化，投資銀行提供的多數(shù)服務(wù)收費都已有所下降。

Fees on most things that investment banks sell have come down as competition has increased and the techniques used to design and distribute them have become commoditised.

可是，IPO的收費水平卻居高不下。人力資源咨詢公司Resources Connection是在股市興旺的2000年最后一家上市的企業(yè)，該公司為此向其顧問瑞士信貸第一波士頓銀行(CSFB)和德意志銀行(Deutsche Bank)支付了7%的承銷費。公司的首席財務(wù)官史蒂芬#吉奧斯托(Stephen Giusto)把這筆費用稱為“上市的入場費(price of admission)”。

Yet, the cost of an IPO is more resilient. Resources Connection, a staffing consultancy that was the last business to go public in the equity boom of 2000, paid a fee of 7 per cent to its advisers, Credit Suisse First Boston and Deutsche Bank. Stephen Giusto, chief financial officer, called the fee the "price of admission to go public."

盡管有一些小的回旋余地，但對于多數(shù)較小的公司來說，上市的收費標(biāo)準(zhǔn)都在7%上下。但奇怪的是，即便Resources Connection公司在過去三年的熊市中上市，該公司必須支付的費用也與牛市時期相差無幾。根據(jù)金融數(shù)據(jù)提供商Dealogic的資料，去年美國IPO的平均收費標(biāo)準(zhǔn)為6.7%。

While there is some flexibility in the price, something approaching 7 per cent is the norm for most smaller companies. Oddly, though, Resources Connection would have had to pay a very similar fee in the much leaner markets of the last three years as it did at the top of the market. According to Dealogic, the average US IPO fee last year was 6.7 per cent.

只有大型企業(yè)才能得到優(yōu)惠的IPO收費。佛羅里達大學(xué)金融學(xué)教授杰#里特(Jay Ritter)指出，Resources Connection之所以須付7%的收費，是因為它的估值只有7800萬美元。相比之下，當(dāng)搜索網(wǎng)站Google最終上市的時候，它所支付的收費將接近于4%，因為其估值將超過10億美元。

The only time a discount is applied is when a large company goes public. Jay Ritter, University of Florida finance professor, says that Resources Connection had to pay 7 per cent because it was valued only at m. When Google finally lists, it will pay closer to 4 per cent because the offering will be worth more than bn.

一些銀行家堅持認為，IPO的收費水平之所以居高不下，是因為其運作的商業(yè)化程度要低于其他業(yè)務(wù)。他們辯稱：IPO畢竟是需要極高操作技巧的業(yè)務(wù)，對于多數(shù)企業(yè)的管理層而言，這也是一次畢生難得的經(jīng)歷。

Some bankers maintain that IPO pricing has been so resilient because going public has been commoditised less than other activities: it remains a highly skilled art and a once-in-a-lifetime event for most managements, the argument goes.

不過，這種論調(diào)并不符合世界上其他地方的實際情況。歐洲IPO的平均收費標(biāo)準(zhǔn)接近2%或更低，而亞洲IPO的收費標(biāo)準(zhǔn)接近4%。更說明問題的是，近十年來，隨著(歐洲的)競爭對手與美國銀行爭相搶奪市場份額，歐洲IPO的收費已降低多達60%。

And yet, elsewhere in the world, the fees tell a different story. Fees for European IPOs average closer to 2 per cent or less and Asian fees closer to 4 per cent. Moreover, in Europe fees have fallen by up to 60 per cent over the past decade as rivals fought for market share with US firms.

歐洲的銀行家們往往把美國市場描述為一個壟斷聯(lián)盟。多年來，五大投資銀行，即高盛(Goldman)、摩根(Morgan)、花旗(Citigroup)、美林(Merrill Lynch)和瑞士信貸第一波士頓(CSFB)，一直占據(jù)著IPO市場的大部分。他們借助多年編織的關(guān)系網(wǎng)，牢牢控制著市場份額。

European bankers like to describe the US market as a cartel. Five investment banks - Goldman, Morgan, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, and CSFB - have won the lion's share of IPOs for years, keeping a tight grip on market share thanks to years of relationship-building.

2000年，美國司法部曾對國內(nèi)IPO市場存在價格操縱的指控進行了調(diào)查，但在一年后放棄了該項調(diào)查。

But in 2000, the US Justice Department investigated allegations of price fixing in domestic IPOs and dropped the case a year later.

那些否認存在壟斷聯(lián)盟的人士，可以援引華盛頓地區(qū)小型投資銀行 Friedman Billings Ramsey 在去年的表現(xiàn)作為例證。去年，這家默默無聞的銀行一躍成為IPO業(yè)務(wù)排行榜上的第三名(當(dāng)然，這是在市場極為低迷的一年中取得的)，而它對許多客戶也實行7%的收費標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。

Those who deny there is cartel, can point to last year's performance of Friedman Billings Ramsey. The small Washington-area investment bank climbed from obscurity to third place in the IPO rankings - admittedly, in a very weak year - while still charging many of its clients 7 per cent.

偶爾也會有一些美國銀行以較低收費進行競爭。位于舊金山的投資銀行WR Hambrecht一般在擔(dān)任主承銷商時收取4%的費用，在合作承銷時收取5%的費用。但是，象Hambrecht這樣的小機構(gòu)，并沒有足夠的實力來迫使較大的競爭對手仿效它的做法。

There are occasional signs of firms undercutting their rivals. WR Hambrecht, a San Francisco-based investment bank, typically charges about 4 per cent to lead a sale and 5 per cent to co-manage. But a small firm like Hambrecht does not have enough clout to force its larger rivals to move with it.

事實是，許多美國客戶考慮更多的是服務(wù)，而不是費用。Resources Connection的首席財務(wù)官史蒂芬#吉奧斯托(Stephen Giusto)解釋說：“只有在上市以后，你才能知道他們的收費是否恰當(dāng)。”他認為，他們公司支付的費用是物有所值的：公司的股票以12美元開盤，首日以16美元收盤，目前在36美元上下交易。此外，公司的投資者群體一直保持穩(wěn)定。

The fact is that many US clients are often less concerned with fees than they are with service. As Stephen Giusto, chief financial officer of Resources Connection, explains: "You only know if the fee they charged was appropriate in retrospect." He says the fee has paid was worth it: the stock opened at a share, closed at and now trades at . Plus his investor base has remained stable.

許多美國企業(yè)對收費折扣抱有疑慮。一家歐洲銀行的股票資本市場部門主管說，當(dāng)他向美國客戶提出3%的收費標(biāo)準(zhǔn)時，他得到的回應(yīng)不是“你們的服務(wù)肯定好不了”，就是企業(yè)寧愿不要收費折扣，以便能有一個“良好的關(guān)系”。

Many US companies are suspicious of discounting. The head of equity capital markets at one European firm said that when he offers US clients a 3 per cent fee the response is either "you can't be any good" or that they consider forgoing a discount "the price of a good relationship."

正因如此，美國銀行能憑借在國內(nèi)市場贏得的優(yōu)厚利潤，在世界上其他地方爭搶地盤。荷蘭銀行(ABN Amro)的企業(yè)資產(chǎn)服務(wù)部副董事長梅諾#德耶格爾(Menno de Jager)說：“歐洲銀行普遍認為，美國銀行在歐洲開展的IPO業(yè)務(wù)，得到了其國內(nèi)業(yè)務(wù)的大力資助，以此擴大市場份額。”

US banks are then able to take the fat margins they enjoy at home to finance their landgrab elswhere in the world. Menno de Jager, deputy chairman of corporate equity services at ABN Amro says: "There is a feeling amongst European banks that IPOs in Europe are being heavily subsidised by US banks' domestic businesses insgroupsto gain market share."

毫無疑問，隨著IPO市場在華爾街再次復(fù)蘇，有些銀行 (無論是本地銀行還是海外銀行)會再次試圖打破現(xiàn)有的收費標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，以期進入市場。

As the IPO market begins to boom again on Wall Street, no doubt some banks - local and foreign - will try again to make inroads by testing the resilience of pricing.

而他們不久就會發(fā)現(xiàn)，美國企業(yè)在心理上更偏愛收費高昂的IPO，因為高價令這些企業(yè)放心，而這些企業(yè)也自然會得到他們應(yīng)得的收費標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。

They will soon find that US companies like their IPOs reassuringly expensive and get the pricing they deserve.

一如吉奧斯托先生所說：“從金額上看，收費似乎高得離譜，但假如他們能提供一個高效的過程，為企業(yè)引薦合適的投資者群體，那他們所收的每一分錢都是值得的。”

"When you look at the dollars it seems outrageous," Mr Giusto says. "But if there is an efficient process and they get you to the right investors then they earn every penny they charge."

譯者/和風(fēng)