Alibaba fancies itself the eBay, Amazon.com and PayPal of the Chinese Internet. Now it wants to add YouTube and Netflix to the list.

阿里巴巴集團(Alibaba Group)把自己比作中國互聯網世界的eBay、亞馬遜(Amazon)和貝寶(PayPal)，現在它想再加入一點YoutTube和Netflix的成份。

In the latest in a string of entertainment industry acquisitions, Alibaba said Monday it will jointly take an 18.5% stake in New York-listed Youku Tudou for $1.22 billion, alongside an investment vehicle linked to Chairman Jack Ma.

阿里巴巴集團周一宣布，阿里巴巴將與馬云(Jack Ma)創立的一家基金聯手斥資12億美元收購紐約上市公司優酷土豆18.5%的股權。為進軍文化娛樂產業，阿里巴巴展開了一連串的并購活動，入股優酷土豆是其最新舉措。

In March, Alibaba acquired a majority stake in ChinaVision Media, a film and television production studio. Earlier this month, a separate investment vehicle owned by Mr. Ma and another Alibaba co-founder took a 20% stake in Wasu Media, an Internet television company with a small cable network. Add the three deals together, and that is a $3 billion spending spree.

今年3月份，阿里巴巴收購了影視劇制作公司文化中國傳播集團有限公司(ChinaVision Media)的多數股權。本月早些時候，馬云和阿里巴巴的另一位創始人通過旗下另一個投資平臺購入互聯網電視公司華數傳媒控股股份有限公司(Wasu Media) 20%的股權。這三樁交易加在一起的總投資約為30億美元。

As Alibaba gears up for a massive initial public offering, a picture is emerging of an ambitious, vertically integrated video strategy encompassing content creation, broadband distribution and online streaming. Just how the pieces fit together, including the role played by Mr. Ma's investment vehicles, remains unclear.

在阿里巴巴正在為大規模的首次公開募股(IPO)做準備之際，一幅雄心勃勃的整合策略藍圖逐漸形成：阿里巴巴打算對視頻產業進行垂直整合，涉足內容創作、寬帶平臺建設以及線上流媒體等領域。目前還不清楚阿里巴巴將如何把這些資產(包括馬云的投資工具所扮演的角色)整合在一起。

Youku is one of China's top Internet video sites, combining user-generated and professional content. But it faces intense competition from search engine Baidu's video unit, as well as diversified Internet giant Tencent Holdings and New York-listed portal Sohu.com, both with their own video services.

優酷土豆是中國頂尖的視頻網站之一，是將用戶自創內容與專業內容相融合的一個平臺。不過該公司正面臨激烈的市場競爭，競爭對手包括搜索引擎百度(Baidu)旗下的視頻子公司、綜合性互聯網巨頭騰訊控股有限公司(Tencent Holdings Ltd., 簡稱：騰訊控股)以及紐約上市的門戶網站搜狐公司(Sohu.com Inc.)，其中騰訊控股和搜狐公司都有自己的視頻業務。

The next logical step in China's Internet deal frenzy could be a video tie-up between Tencent and Sohu, since the two companies are already allied in search. Tencent was earlier in talks with Youku over a possible investment and will want to keep toe-to-toe with Alibaba.

按照邏輯，中國互聯網交易熱潮的下一步可能是騰訊控股與搜狐公司視頻業務的整合，因為這兩家公司已經在搜索業務上展開合作。騰訊早些時候與優酷土豆就潛在投資進行了談判，預計將與阿里巴巴直面交鋒。

Regulatory risks hang over the entire sector. Chinese censors recently pulled four popular U.S. television shows from the Web, including one, 'The Good Wife,' which Youku had the rights to. Last week, Beijing stripped portal site Sina Corp. of some publishing licenses over pornographic material, sending shares down 10% over two days.

監管審查是整個視頻行業面臨的一大風險。中國審查機構最近將四部美劇從國內視頻網站下架，優酷土豆擁有其中《傲骨賢妻》(The Good Wife)的播放權。上周，中國政府吊銷了新浪公司(Sina Co., SINA)的《互聯網出版許可證》和《信息網絡傳播視聽節目許可證》，導致其股價在兩天內下跌10%。

Nor is Youku coming cheap. The deal will be done at $30.50 per share, 26% higher than Youku's closing price on Friday. But because Youku will issue new shares in the transaction, this understates the premium that Alibaba is paying. Youku as a whole will be valued at $6.6 billion, 63% above its Friday market cap, or 13 times 2013 sales for the loss-making company.

優酷土豆的售價并不便宜。阿里巴巴將以每股30.50美元收購優酷土豆股權，較優酷土豆上周五收盤價高出26%。但由于優酷土豆將在交易中發行新股，因此溢價幅度有所降低。優酷土豆的整體估值將為66億美元，較上周五市值高出63%，相當于這家虧損企業2013年銷售額的13倍。

Alibaba is already asking investors to support what could be the biggest IPO in U.S. history. Now it will also ask them to invest in a hastily agglomerated video strategy. Alibaba needs to make the case why.


阿里巴巴已經請求投資者支持可能是美國歷史上最大規模的IPO，現在又希望投資者贊成一個倉促成形的視頻戰略。阿里巴巴需要做出解釋。