长期以来，Ariel投资公司的约翰·罗杰斯一直是各类商业建议的倾听者。他与该公司的联合首席执行官梅洛迪·霍布森，一直为从巴拉克·奥巴马到霍华德·舒尔茨等众多人士提供咨询服务。实际上，Ariel的品牌形象就是为全球各大企业的首席执行官和董事会提供友善且实用的建议。正因如此，本周他首次以行动者的身份致信美泰，敦促该公司出售自身，这一举动便显得格外引人注目。
Ariel Investment’s John Rogers has been a longtime listener — he and the investment firm’s co-CEO Mellody Hobson have been consiglieri to everyone from Barack Obama to Howard Schultz. Indeed, Ariel’s entire brand has been about friendly advice to CEOs and boards across the world. That gives his decision to be a first-time caller — writing an activist-tinged letter to Mattel earlier this week, urging it to sell itself — particular weight.
对于即将接替伊农·克雷兹出任康泰纳仕集团首席执行官的罗杰·林奇而言，当前的形势可谓严峻。在Ariel的持股基础上，另一位激进型投资者也加入了推动行列，目前这两方合计持有美泰超过9%的股份，正合力促使该公司寻找收购方。《Semafor》证实，拥有锐步和Nine West品牌的Authentic Brands集团已对此表现出兴趣，这一消息最早由《华尔街日报》报道。
It’s a frosty welcome for Roger Lynch, the Condé Nast CEO who is replacing Ynon Kreiz. With Ariel’s stakes added to that of another activist investor, owners of more than 9% of Mattel’s shares are pushing the company to find a buyer. Semafor can confirm that Authentic Brands, owner of Reebok and Nine West, has expressed interest, first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
美泰方面未对Authentic Brands的兴趣表态，仅表示会像对待其他股东的意见一样审慎考量Ariel的建议。（Ariel方面则未回应相关置评请求。）不过，或许只是时间问题，就会有其他真正的激进型投资者也向美泰发起挑战。— 罗汉·戈斯瓦米
The company declined to comment on Authentic’s interest and said it would consider Ariel’s views in the same way it considered the “views of Mattel’s other shareholders.” (Ariel didn’t respond to a request for comment.) But it may just be a matter of time before someone else — a real activist — decides to push on Mattel’s open door. — Rohan Goswami