顶级钢琴生产商施坦威（Steinway & Co.）再一次达成私有化协议。没错，的确是再一次。

    总部位于美国马萨诸塞州沃尔萨姆市的施坦威公司本周宣布，已和对冲基金保尔森（Paulson & Co.）达成总额约5.12亿美元的收购协议，合计每股40美元。

    此前，施坦威已和私募资本科尔伯格（Kohlberg）达成每股35美元的收购协议，新的收购价足足上涨了14%。科尔伯格已表示不会再提高收购金额（这家公司的报价已经比施坦威当时的成交价高出15%。）这意味着施坦威必须付给科尔伯格1,335万美元分手费。

    无疑，交易者已经猜测到将会有公司竞价。就在交易宣布当天，施坦威公司的股价就冲破了科尔伯格公司开出的每股35美元的收购价，而且在之后的五个星期一直维持在这个价位。

    但这个过程的结果应该让市场明白了，私募股权投资公司其实也有价格上限。

    科尔伯格公司对此过程没有发表评论，也没有透露它原本是否会同保尔森刚开始给出的每股38美元收购价展开竞价。但每股40美元的股价对位于纽约州基斯科山的科尔伯格来说显然是太贵了。这家公司目前进行投资的基金金额仅为16亿美元。共同基金经理们似乎往往认为，私募股权投资公司钱多人傻，只要有一点点的外界压力，就会把价格规则都抛到脑后。

    施坦威收购案显示，情况显然并非如此。但愿保尔森基金没有指望科尔伯格最后来当冤大头。（财富中文网）

    译者：项航  

    Piano maker Steinway & Co. (LVB) has agreed to be taken private. Again.

    The Waltham, Mass.-based company announced this morning that it will be acquired for approximately $512 million, or $40 per share, by hedge fund manager Paulson & Co.

    That's around 14% higher than Steinway's previous $35 per share deal with private equity firm Kohlberg & Co., which has said that it will not increase its offer (which already represented a 15% premium to Steinway's most recent trading price). It also means that Steinway will be required to pay Kohlberg a $13.35 million termination fee.

    To be sure, traders had suspected a rival offer was coming. Steinway shares jumped past Kohlberg's $35 offer on the day it was announced, and had remained there throughout the past five weeks.

    But the result of this process should teach the market that private equity firms do have actual price ceilings.

    Kohlberg isn't commenting on the process, or if it would have rivaled the $38 per share that Paulson initially offered. But clearly $40 was too rich for the Mt. Kisco, N.Y.-based firm, which currently is investing out of a $1.6 billion fund. Mutual fund managers and others often seem to believe that private equity firms are bottomless capital pits whose price discipline can be extinguished by just the slightest of outside pressures.

    Not so in this case. Hopefully that isn't what Paulson was counting on.