Entries in Blog Coverage (6)
On the SEIU Buyout Bus
FROM PEHUB.COM
Times Square is ground zero of private equity’s conquest of corporate America, and Andrew McDonald’s goal is to explain that to as many people as he can.
Behind the Buyouts WebMaster
in Blog Coverage
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Dissector Daily Forum: A New Tour Of Times Square
FROM NEWS DISSECTOR BLOG
The staggering concentration of private equity-owned companies at the “Crossroads of the World” provides a microcosm of the impact of this wealthy and growing industry over America’s national economic landscape.
Behind the Buyouts WebMaster
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Big Union Takes Skeptical Look at Private Equity
from the New York Times
edited by Andrew Ross Sorkin
In Europe, private equity firms are accustomed to feeling the heat from unions. Now, the temperature is rising in the United States as well.
The Service Employees International Union, which represents nearly two million workers including health care employees and janitors, on Tuesday released a report that takes a skeptical look at the private equity industry. While the report stops short of being openly hostile to buyout firms, it sets forth a series of “public policy concerns” related to the recent run of large buyout deals.
Behind the Buyouts WebMaster
John Adler of SEIU posts this follow-up
on the New York Times Dealscape blog:
The posting says reporters may have been puzzled yesterday by SEIU’s calls for more disclosure because, “freedom from public disclosure is one of the major benefits of taking a company private.” There is no question about the benefit of non-disclosure to PE firms and their portfolio companies, but this is exactly the kind of issue that needs a much closer look as buyouts get bigger and private equity gains more control over whole sectors of the economy. When private equity buys the likes of Sallie Mae, Harrah’s and Clear Channel, the largest companies in each of their respective sectors, then they are going to need to face up to the reality that operating such behemoths under the traditional veil of secrecy will likely lead to a backlash.
The larger story of the economy right now is that a small group of private equity and hedge fund “masters of the universe” are growing incredibly wealthy, in part because they play by a different set of rules than the vast majority of economic actors, while most Americans’ wages are stagnant and tens of millions can’t afford health insurance. When the jobs and lives of tens of thousands of workers are impacted by a buyout, the public interest demands that there be some increased level of transparency and disclosure, perhaps not at the level of detail of a publicly traded company, but something that enables stakeholders to understand what is happening at the company and what the company’s future plans are. I think the more forward-looking private equity firms understand this, and have already begun to take limited steps towards such increased transparency.
Behind the Buyouts WebMaster
in New York Times, Blog Coverage
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Anti-Blackstone Blog Launched by Union
from the Private Equity Central blog
If there is one thing private equity firms have learned in the last few years, it is that with bigger deals comes increased scrutiny. Backlash against private equity continues to gain momentum, as the Service Employees International Union launched their anti-Blackstone Group blog on Tuesday. The union’s blog, www.blackstonerevealed.blogspot.com, was created to track Blackstone’s initial public offering, but it will also cover the industry as a whole, according to Andrew McDonald, a spokesperson for SEIU.
Behind the Buyouts WebMaster
in Blackstone, Blog Coverage
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SEIU keeps an eye on Blackstone
from the Dealscape blog
Service Employees International Union has launched a blog dedicated to The Blackstone Group LP's planned initial public offering. Stephen Lerner, assistant to the president at S.E.I.U., told PE Hub's Dan Primack the purpose of the blog is "to help disburse wealth down the employment ladder" at Blackstone portfolio companies.
Andrew McDonald
in Blackstone, Blog Coverage
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The Service Employees International Union has launched a blog dedicated to The Blackstone Group’s proposed IPO
from the PE Hub blog
It is the SEIU’s first-ever blog dedicated to anything besides organizing campaigns (although it once had a website called GTCRwatch.com), and promises to keep tabs on an offering that SEIU spokeswoman Renee Asher says “could have a huge impact on the economy and workers.” Asher says that SEIU has no positive or negative opinion on the IPO, but a quick read of the blog indicates a giant dose of skepticism. Perhaps most interesting, SEIU expresses concern about how Blackstone will not provide financial guidance.
Renee Asher
in Blackstone, Blog Coverage
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