平台策略併購: 騰訊控股科技有限公司 個案研究

Abstract

This thesis analyses mergers and acquisitions (M&A) through the platform strategy by focusing on Tencent, whose market cap outpaced that of Intel and Cisco at US $150 billion on March 12, 2014. A generic rule on platform strategy M&A is then proposed by analysing complementary cases such as Alibaba and Baidu and by interviewing external experts. This thesis’ generic rule could be used by platform strategy entrepreneurs, professional managers, and M&A transaction facilitators to improve the M&A transaction performance of platform strategy companies. It classifies platform strategy companies into three categories (vertical start-ups, open platform companies, and multi open platform ecosystem companies) according to three dimensions (time, complements readiness, and capability building). Companies in each category will have different platform strategy competitiveness levels, and their various M&A objectives will include capability build, platform expansion, product expansion, economic and geographic market expansion, and investment. Tencent executed more than 32 M&A deals between 2005 to 2014, during which it mixed its M&A objectives. Nonetheless, this thesis identifies the limitations of the company’s generic rule and points to directions for further research on organizational (post-merger) behaviour and on financial issues to ensure the effectiveness of M&A transactions and their strategic logic. Platform strategy is a relatively new knowledge domain flowing from theories focused on hardware/software (both open and control) companies like Intel, Microsoft, Cisco, and IBM. However, this thesis focuses on Internet companies pursuing a platform strategy, for whom M&A transactions are the major means of growing their business and gaining the speed and agility needed to respond to market dynamics. This thesis reviews the platform strategy and then bridges the gap between it and the M&A strategy in order to formulate an M&A method through the platform strategy.