The Anatomy of Public Corruption

Showing posts with label Fremont Group. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fremont Group. Show all posts

Surface Transportation Board (STB)

30523 SERVICE DATE - LATE RELEASE NOVEMBER 30, 1999 EB SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD STB Finance Docket No. 32760 (Sub-No. 21) UNION PACIFIC CORPORATION, UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY, AND MISSOURI PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY—CONTROL AND MERGER—SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAIL CORPORATION, SOUTHERN PACIFIC TRANSPORTATION COMPANY, ST. LOUIS SOUTHWESTERN RAILWAY COMPANY, SPCSL CORP., AND THE DENVER AND RIO GRANDE WESTERN RAILROAD COMPANY [GENERAL OVERSIGHT] Decision No. 15 Decided: November 29, 1999 We discuss, in this decision, the issues that have been raised and the conclusions that we have reached in the third annual round of the UP/SP general oversight proceeding. Our review of this record indicates that the service crisis is over and that there have been no competitive problems resulting from the merger. BACKGROUND UP/SP Merger Proceeding. In a decision served August 12, 1996, we approved the 1 common control and merger of the rail carriers controlled by Union Pacific Corporation (Union Pacific Railroad Company and Missouri Pacific Railroad Company) and the rail carriers controlled by Southern Pacific Rail Corporation (Southern Pacific Transportation Company, St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company, SPCSL Corp., and The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Company) subject to various conditions, including, among many others, a 5-year oversight condition and the terms of the BNSF agreement as supplemented by the CM

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Concord City Attorney Mark Coon has passed away,

Image Notes: Pete Bennett began tracking incidents in Walnut Creek and surrounding cities many years ago.  In part due to the millions lost in Contra Costa Superior Court where Bennett losses can be directly tied to the murders of witnesses, defendants and in some cases Police Officers.

This location of Walnut Creek contains other stories untold, hidden or concealed by Walnut Creek Police, City Council and Employees of the Walnut Creek. 

Few know that the Walnut Creek Police Department is quietly removing officers via a unknown California Department of Justice investigation.  One officer was Greg Thompson who I encountered many times over many decades decided to take out a black woman in Richmond CA.

I am sure his time in jail was served with Coffee and Donuts.   



Concord City Attorney Mark Coon has passed away, according to an email sent to all city staff by Concord City Manager Valerie Barone.

Details of his death are not known at this time, but we’re hearing he died earlier this morning in Walnut Creek.

The City of Concord has closed all city offices, and tonight’s council meeting has been canceled.
Grief counselors have also been brought in for any city employee wishing to talk, according to the email.
UPDATE, 3:53pm: The City of Concord has released the following statement:

“The City of Concord is mourni
ng the loss of City Attorney Mark Coon. Coon served as Concord’s City Attorney since 2012.
“I have known Mark for many years and respected him both as a City employee and as a friend,” said City Manager Valerie Barone. “The City has suffered a great loss that will be felt for many years. Our thoughts are with his family at this sad time.”

Grief counselors have been made available to City employees. Tonight’s City Council meeting and Closed Session have been cancelled.

Coon was first hired by the City in January 2002 as a Deputy City Attorney. He was promoted to Assistant City Attorney in September 2004 and promoted to Senior Assistant City Attorney in January 2010. He was named City Attorney by the Concord City Council in 2012.”

UPDATE, 5:14pm: His death has been ruled a suicide.
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The Oracle and the Theranos Suckers Pitch

Connecting Oracle to Commerce One, Balwani, Fremont Group and Bechtel

There is a long tail story lurking in the background in the matter of Bennett v. Southern Pacific linked a murder of a witness.  The truth kept in check by Contra Costa District Attorneys prior to Dianna Becton former Superior Court Judge of Contra Costa County.  

Take a moment to read on why Bennett v. Southern Pacific came to life and how it died on the Court House steps.  

The endless connections of Pete Bennett once again indicted for mail and wire fraud where Theranos investors get the help of the United States Attorney and Securities and Exchange Commission but when Bennett identifies losses in the tens of thousands the FBI agent said it wasn't big enough to go after.

The Fall of Theranos intertwined Fremont Group and Oracle
Often in life the same actors reappear sometimes like flies, lady bugs and horse but it's your choice which analogy is applicable.

Admittedly the Theranos case wasn't high priority until several names emerged.  It's quite funny as the accusers who gained the investigative prowess of the Securities and Exchange Commission are themselves a target of the Department of Justice. 

Mr. Balwani is a connection from the 1990s where he took control of Commerce One.  The founders were Tom Gonzales Sr. and Tom Gonzales Jr., the last time I saw them they were at Mt. Diablo National Bank preparing accounts.  We had short conversation as they were busy.  Tom jr. died a few weeks later from bladder cancer but that was from the grapevine.   There are other details about what happened that I cannot verify as it's more akin to back room chatter.

Vertical Technologies Lafayette CA

During my early computer days while building a cabinet shop I was always seeking cheap or special deals on equipment.  I would stop by their offices on the second floor down by the old Rockin Horse Bar and Restaurant.


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The Dot Collectors: Linking CEO Steve Burd, Frank Doyle Jr. The Discredited Agent of the FBI, Southern Pacific, Fremont Group, Kinetic Concepts, Blum Capital to arrest of CEO William McGlashan

Connecting Success Factors to Bennett

The Dubious Phone Call and Time Wasting Project
The folks at TPG will have to answer to my Whistleblower Complaints on the truly odd collection of RFPs emanating from companies connected to Richard Blum, William McGlashan, CBRE, Regency Centers, Trammel Crow, Lennar, Catellus.

My story is about witness murders, private equity, mergers and acquisitions linked back to the Matter of Bennett v. Southern Pacific lost in 1989.  It was a winnable case as long the witnesses testified.  
xxxx2
xxxx9

Frank Doyle Jr.

Steve Burd

William McGlashan

Blum Capital

Southern Pacific,

Fremont Group,

Kinetic Concepts
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You'll need "Food from the Bar" after your witnesses have been killed.



The Koko Challenge

Food From The Bar? The folks at TPG will have to answer to my Whistleblower Complaints on the truly odd collection of RFPs emanating from companies connected to Richard Blum, William McGlashan, CBRE, Regency Centers, Trammell Crow, Lennar, Catellus




Law Firms Launch Class Action against Bay Area Poverty


Posted on September 26, 2011, by United Way in Pathways Out of Poverty

How many lawyers in gorilla suits does it take to tackle poverty? It might sound like joke, but to the 31 Bay Area law firms competing in United Way's Koko Challenge this year, fighting poverty is something they all take very seriously.


Every year, the legal community comes together to raise money to fight poverty. Competition is fierce, and top winners receive stuffed gorillas as a prize. Law firms have been known to station their gorillas proudly in their lobbies,
symbolizing their dedication to the community.


On September 22, we kicked-off the 24th annual Koko Challenge, Last year, 21 participating firms raised $1.5 million. With 10 new firms joining the Challenge this year, we're excited to see the legal community once again raise the bar for philanthropy
in the Bay Area.

The theme of this year's challenge is "Class action against poverty," to align with United Way's community effort to cut in half the number of local families who live in poverty by the year 2020.

Gap, Inc. General Counsel Michelle Banks, chair of this year's Koko Cabinet, announced this year's goal to raise $1.8 million, with $700,000 directed to United Way.

The Fremont Group General Counsel Rick Kopf chimed in, urging everyone to increase their gifts by 20% and direct it to United Way programs: SparkPoint, Community Schools, MatchBridge, 211 and Earn It! Keep It! Save It! This collective
increase would raise an additional $300,000 for United Way, and enable us to continue to operate and expand our poverty fighting programs.

The spirit and enthusiasm of Shook, Hardy and Bacon LLP Partner Kevin Haroff was hard to match as he had already purchased his own gorilla suit. To help raise spirits - as well as funds - during this year's Challenge, he offered to wear the gorilla suit to any event hosted by the 10 new participating firms.

Many thanks to Shook, Hardy and Bacon LLP, winner of last year's Baby Koko award and host of our kick-off event. And, thank you to the Koko Koko Cabinet, a volunteer committee that oversees the Challenge (listed below). The Challenge would not be possible
without your support and enthusiasm.


For more information about how you can join the 2010-2011 Koko Challenge please contact Danielle Cohen (415) 808-4322 or dcohen@uwba.org.



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Bennett v. Southern Pacific

Pete Bennett awaiting CT Scan for one of many attacks

Valley View Veterinary

Customer of Mainframe Designs Cabinets and Fixtures.   Harve and Kieko Ringheim brutally murdered in their Dublin home in 1986

The Challenge to the Koko

Go ProBono for Pete Bennett ~ but just remember his witnesses, family and clients have been murdered.
The folks at TPG will have to answer to my Whistleblower Complaints on the truly odd collection of RFPs emanating from companies connected to Richard Blum, William McGlashan, CBRE, Regency Centers, Trammell Crow, Lennar, Catellus, Southern Pacific and others.  



Highlighted Events












2011 - 2012 Koko Cabinet

sss
  • Michelle Banks, EVP, General Counsel, Gap, Inc. - Chair
  • Charles S. Custer, Partner, Gordon & Rees LLP
  • Nancy Greenan Hamill, Campus Counsel, UC Santa Barbara
  • Kevin Haroff, Partner, Shook, Hardy & Bacon, LLP
  • David A. Hearth, Partner, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker
  • Michael W. Kelly, Partner, Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP
  • Rick Kopf, Managing Director, Operations & General Counsel, The Fremont Group
  • R. Hewitt Pate, VP, General Counsel, Chevron Corporation
  • James Potter, SVP, General Counsel, Del Monte Foods
  • Jay J. Price, Assistant General Counsel, Bank of America See Pete Bennett
  • Bill Sawyers, EVP, CAO & General Counsel, Ernst Gallo Clinic and Research Center
  • Jim Strother, EVP, General Counsel, Wells Fargo & Co.
  • Vanessa Washington, Senior EVP, General Counsel & Secretary, Bank of the West Delta  no
Richard Rainey and the Mormons

In the matter of Bennett vs. Southern Pacific a witness murder went down in 1989. The witness was slated to testify on behalf of Pete Bennett. The case fell apart on the courthouse steps. Judge Peter Spinetta should be a hostile witness now living in Darby Montana.

Southern Pacific Attorney Richard Stanford Kopf worked at SP from before the 1973 Roseville Rail Yard exploded until the end of days for Southern Pacific. Richard Stanford Kopf The PG&E Drama During early 2011 a PG&E vendor hailing from Roswell Georgia contracted Pete Bennett with a software project related to the San Bruno Explosion. During 2011, Pete Bennett was hired during a very desperate time. Recently chased from Walnut Creek from offices in Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, San Francisco, and just about everywhere suddenly connects with PG&E. Pete is a local Bay Area Developer but then was homeless and desperate for work and money. What Bennett uncovered was the project was fake project or fake news. By summer his sons were kidnapped by a Walnut Creek Police officer who was once Sgt Keeler connected to the 1988 Murder of Safeway Manager Cynthia Kempf. It took several years to find the connections between Southern Pacific, PG&E, Kinder Morgan< Oracle, The World Trade Center Bombings and officers arrested in narcotics taskforce scandal.
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The Tracy Rail Yards Union Buster and the Richmond Warehouse ARSON Fire

This page is a teaser when done will reveal criminal corporate malfeasance.  Part of this page will honor Richmond Fire Deputy Chief Wiley
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Bain Capital and connections to Bennett v. Southern Pacific

Bain Capital

Piedmont Lumber, San Bruno Fire, La Virage, FedEx, Limo's, Pipelines, Schools, New Construction, Tunnels and more.



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Bain Capital

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Bain Capital, LP
Privatelimited partnership
IndustryAlternative investment
Founded1984; 34 years ago
Headquarters200 Clarendon Street
BostonMassachusettsU.S.
Number of locations
Boston, ChicagoDublinHong KongLondonLuxembourgMelbourneMumbaiMunichNew YorkPalo AltoSan FranciscoShanghai, and Tokyo
Key people
Joshua Bekenstein
John P. Connaughton
Jonathan Lavine
Steven Pagliuca
ProductsVenture capitalinvestment managementpublic equityprivate equity and credit products
AUMIncrease US$ 75 billion (2014)
Number of employees
900+ (2014)[citation needed]
Websitewww.baincapital.com

In late 2011, Bain Capital moved its headquarters to the John Hancock Tower (now 200 Clarendon Street) in Boston, Massachusetts. Bain occupies 210,000 sq. ft. from the 36th to 43rd floors.[1]
Bain Capital is a global alternative investment firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. It specializes in private equityventure capital and credit products. Bain Capital invests across a range of industry sectors and geographic regions. As of June 2014, the firm managed more than $75 billion of investor capital across its various investment platforms.
The firm was founded in 1984 by partners from the consulting firm Bain & Company.[2] Since inception it has invested in or acquired hundreds of companies including AMC TheatresArtisan EntertainmentAspen Education GroupBrookstoneBurger KingBurlington Coat FactoryCanada GooseDIC EntertainmentDomino's PizzaDoubleClickDunkin' DonutsD&M HoldingsGuitar CenterHospital Corporation of America (HCA)iHeartMediaKB ToysSealySports AuthorityStaplesToys "R" UsWarner Music GroupFingerhutThe Weather Channel, and Apple Leisure Group, which includes AMResorts and Apple Vacations.[3]
As of 2014, Bain Capital employs more than 900 people.[citation needed] Bain Capital is headquartered at the 200 Clarendon Street in Boston, Massachusetts with additional offices in New York CityChicagoPalo AltoSan FranciscoDublinLondonLuxembourgMunichHong KongShanghaiMumbaiTokyo and Melbourne.[4]
The company, and its actions during its first 15 years, became the subject of political and media scrutiny as a result of co-founder Mitt Romney's later political career, especially his 2012 presidential campaign.[5][6]

History[edit]

1984 founding and early history[edit]

Bain Capital was founded in 1984 by Bain & Company partners Mitt Romney, T. Coleman Andrews III, and Eric Kriss, after Bill Bain had offered Romney the chance to head a new venture that would invest in companies and apply Bain's consulting techniques to improve operations.[7] In addition to the three founding partners, the early team included Fraser BullockRobert F. WhiteJoshua Bekenstein, Adam Kirsch, and Geoffrey S. Rehnert.[8] Romney initially had the titles of president[9] and managing general partner[10][11] or managing partner.[12] He later became referred to as managing director[13] or CEO[14] as well. He was also the sole shareholder of the firm.[15] At the beginning, the firm had fewer than ten employees.[16]
In the face of skepticism from potential investors, Romney and his partners spent a year raising the $37 million in funds needed to start the new operation.[16][17][18][19] Bain partners put in $12 million of their own money and sourced the rest from wealthy individuals.[20] Early investors included Boston real estate mogul Mortimer Zuckerman and Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots football team.[18] They also included members of elite Salvadoran families who fled the country's civil war.[21] They and other wealthy Latin Americans invested $9 million primarily through offshore companies registered in Panama.[20]
While Bain Capital was founded by Bain executives, the firm was not an affiliate or a division of Bain & Company but rather a completely separate company. Initially, the two firms shared the same offices—in an office tower at Copley Place in Boston[22]—and a similar approach to improving business operations. However, the two firms had put in place certain protections to avoid sharing information between the two companies and the Bain & Company executives had the ability to veto investments that posed potential conflicts of interest.[23] Bain Capital also provided an investment opportunity for partners of Bain & Company. The firm initially gave a cut of its profits to Bain & Company, but Romney later persuaded Bill Bain to give that up.[24]

Bain Capital was an initial investor in Staples, Inc.
The Bain Capital team was initially reluctant to invest its capital. By 1985, things were going poorly enough that Romney considered closing the operation, returning investors' money to them, and having the partners go back to their old positions.[25] The partners saw weak spots in so many potential deals that by 1986, very few had been done.[26] At first, Bain Capital focused on venture capital opportunities.[26] One of Bain's earliest and most notable venture investments was in Staples, Inc., the office supply retailer. In 1986, Bain provided $4.5 million to two supermarket executives, Leo Kahn and Thomas G. Stemberg, to open an office supply supermarket in Brighton, Massachusetts.[27] The fast-growing retail chain went public in 1989;[28] by 1996, the company had grown to over 1,100 stores,[29] and as of fiscal year end January 2012, Staples reached over $20 billion in sales, nearly $1.0B in net income, 87,000 employees, and 2,295 stores.[30] Bain Capital eventually reaped a nearly sevenfold return on its investment, and Romney sat on the Staples board of directors for over a decade.[16][19][26] Another very successful investment occurred in 1986 when $1 million was invested in medical equipment maker Calumet Coach, which eventually returned $34 million.[31] A few years later, Bain Capital made an investment in the technology research outfit the Gartner Group, which ended up returning a 16-fold gain.[31]
Bain invested the $37 million of capital in its first fund in twenty companies and by 1989 was generating an annualized return in excess of 50 percent. By the end of the decade, Bain's second fund, raised in 1987 had deployed $106 million into 13 investments.[32] As the firm began organizing around funds, each such fund was run by a specific general partnership—that included all Bain Capital executives as well as others—which in turn was controlled by Bain Capital Inc., the management company that Romney had full ownership control of.[33] As CEO, Romney had a final say in every deal made.[34]

1990s[edit]

Beginning in 1989, the firm, which began as a venture capital source investing in start-up companies, adjusted its strategy to focus on leveraged buyouts and growth capital investments in more mature companies.[35] Their model was to buy existing firms with money mostly borrowed against their assets, partner with existing management to apply Bain methodology to their operations (rather than the hostile takeovers practiced in other leverage buyout scenarios), and sell them off in a few years.[18][26] Existing CEOs were offered large equity stakes in the process, owing to Bain Capital's belief in the emerging agency theory that CEOs should be bound to maximizing shareholder value rather than other goals.[19] By the end of 1990, Bain had raised $175 million of capital and financed 35 companies with combined revenues of $3.5 billion.[36]
In July 1992, Bain acquired Ampad (originally American Pad & Paper) from Mead Corporation, which had acquired the company in 1986. Mead, which had been experiencing difficulties integrating Ampad's products into its existing product lines, generated a cash gain of $56 million on the sale.[37] Under Bain's ownership, the company enjoyed a significant growth in sales from $106.7 million in 1992 to $583.9 million in 1996, when the company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Under Bain's ownership, the company also made a number of acquisitions, including writing products company SCM in July 1994, brand names from the American Trading and Production Corporation in August 1995, WR Acquisition and the Williamhouse-Regency Division of Delaware, Inc. in October 1995, Niagara Envelope Company, Inc. in 1996, and Shade/Allied, Inc. in February 1997.[38] Ampad's revenue began to decline in 1997 and the company laid off employees and closed production facilities to maintain profitability. Employment declined from 4,105 in 1996 to 3,800 in 2000.[39] The company ceased trading on the New York stock exchange on December 22, 2000[40] and filed for bankruptcy in 2001. At the time of the bankruptcy, Bain Capital held a 34.9% equity ownership interest in the company.[41] The assets were acquired in 2003 by Crescent Investments. Bain's eight years' of involvement in Ampad is estimated to have generated over $100 million in profits ($60 million in dividends, $45–50 million from the proceeds from stock issued after the company went public, and $1.5-2 million in annual management fees).[42]
In 1994, Bain acquired Totes, a producer of umbrellas and overshoes.[43] Three years later, Totes, under Bain’s ownership, acquired Isotoner, a producer of leather gloves.[44]
Bain, together with Thomas H. Lee Partners, acquired Experian, the consumer credit reporting business of TRW Inc., in 1996 for more than $1 billion. Formerly known as TRW's Information Systems and Services unit, Experian is one of the leading providers of credit reports on consumers and businesses in the US.[45] The company was sold to Great Universal Stores for $1.7 billion just months after being acquired.[46] Other notable Bain investments of the late 1990s included Sealy Corporation, the manufacturer of mattresses;[47] Alliance Laundry Systems;[48] Domino's Pizza[49] and Artisan Entertainment.[50]
Much of the firm's profits was earned from a relatively small number of deals, with Bain Capital's overall success and failure rate being about even. One study of 68 deals that Bain Capital made up through the 1990s found that the firm lost money or broke even on 33 of them.[51] Another study that looked at the eight-year period following 77 deals during the same time found that in 17 cases the company went bankrupt or out of business, and in 6 cases Bain Capital lost all its investment. But 10 deals were very successful and represented 70 percent of the total profits.[52]
Romney had two diversions from Bain Capital during the first half of the decade. From January 1991 to December 1992,[26][53] Romney served as the CEO of Bain & Company where he led the successful turnaround of the consulting firm (he remained managing general partner of Bain Capital during this time).[10][11] In November 1993, he took a leave of absence for his unsuccessful 1994 run for the U.S. Senate seat from Massachusetts; he returned the day after the election in November 1994.[26][54][55] During that time, Ampad workers went on strike, and asked Romney to intervene; Bain Capital lawyers asked him not to get involved, although he did meet with the workers to tell them he had no position of active authority in the matter.[56][57]
In 1994, Bain invested in Steel Dynamics, based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, a prosperous steel company that has grown to the fifth largest in the U.S.A, employs about 6,100 people, and produces carbon steel products with 2010 revenues of $6.3 billion on steel shipments of 5.3 million tons.[58] In 1993, Bain acquired the Armco Worldwide Grinding System steel plant in Kansas City, Missouri and merged it with its steel plant in Georgetown, South Carolina to form GST Steel. The Kansas City plant had a strike in 1997 and Bain closed the plant in 2001 laying off 750 workers when it went into bankruptcy. The South Carolina plant closed in 2003 but subsequently reopened under a different owner. At the time of its bankruptcy it reported $553.9 million in debts against $395.2 in assets. Bain reported $58.4 million in profits, the employee pension fund had a liability of $44 million.[59][60][61][62]
Bain's investment in Dade Behring represented a significant investment in the medical diagnostics industry. In 1994, Bain, together with Goldman Sachs Capital Partners completed a carveout acquisition of Dade International,[63] the medical diagnostics division of Baxter International in a $440 million acquisition. Dade's private equity owners merged the company with DuPont's in vitro diagnostics business in May 1996 and subsequently with the Behring Diagnostics division of Hoechst AG in 1997.[64] Aventis, the successor of Hoechst, acquired 52% of the combined company.[65] In 1999, the company reported $1.3 billion of revenue and completed a $1.25 billion leveraged recapitalization that resulted in a payout to shareholders.[64] The dividend, taken together with other previous shareholder dividends resulted in an eightfold return on investment to Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs.[31][52]Revenues declined from 1999 through 2002 and despite attempts to cut costs through layoffs the company entered into bankruptcy in 2002. Following its restructuring, Dade Behring emerged from Bankruptcy in 2003 and continued to operate independently until 2007 when the business was acquired by Siemens Medical Solutions. Bain and Goldman lost their remaining stock in the company as part of the bankruptcy.[66]
By the end of the decade, Bain Capital was on its way to being one of the top private equity firms in the nation,[24] having increased its number of partners from 5 to 18, having 115 employees overall, and having $4 billion under its management.[16][18] The firm's average annual return on investments was 113 percent.[17][67] It had made between 100 and 150 deals where it acquired and then sold a company.[31][51][52]

1999–2002: Romney departure and political legacy[edit]

Romney took a paid leave of absence from Bain Capital in February 1999 when he became the head of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics.[68][69] The decision caused turmoil at Bain Capital, with a power struggle ensuing.[70] Some partners left and founded the Audax Group and Golden Gate Capital.[34] Other partners threatened to leave, and there was a prospect of eight-figure lawsuits being filed.[70] Romney was worried that the firm might be destroyed, but the crisis ebbed.[70]
Romney was not involved in day-to-day operations of the firm after starting the Olympics position.[71][72] Those were handled by a management committee, consisting of five of the fourteen remaining active partners with the firm.[34] However, according to some interviews and press releases during 1999, Romney said he was keeping a part-time function at Bain.[34][73]
During his leave of absence, Romney continued to be listed in filings to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission[74] as "sole shareholder, sole director, Chief Executive Officer and President".[75][76] The SEC filings reflected the legal reality[77] and the ownership interest in the Bain Capital management company.[33][78] In practice, former Bain partners have stated that Romney's attention was mostly occupied by his Olympics position.[77][79] He did stay in regular contact with his partners, and traveled to meet with them several times, signing corporate and legal documents and paying attention to his own interests within the firm and to his departure negotiations.[78] Bain Capital Fund VI in 1998 was the last one Romney was involved in; investors were worried that with Romney gone, the firm would have trouble raising money for Bain Capital Fund VII in 2000, but in practice the $2.5 billion was raised without much trouble.[34] His former partners have said that Romney had no role in assessing other new investments after February 1999,[34] nor was he involved in directing the company’s investment funds.[33] Discussions over the final terms of Romney's departure dragged on during this time, with Romney negotiating for the best deal he could get and his continuing position as CEO and sole shareholder giving him the leverage to do so.[34][77]
Although he had left open the possibility of returning to Bain after the Olympics, Romney made his crossover to politics in 1999.[68] His separation from the firm was finalized in early 2002.[34][80] Romney negotiated a ten-year retirement agreement with Bain Capital[34] that allowed him to receive a passive profit share and interest as a retired partner in some Bain Capital entities, including buyout and Bain Capital investment funds, in exchange for his ownership in the management company.[81][82] Because the private equity business continued to thrive, this deal would bring him millions of dollars in annual income.[82] Romney was the first and last CEO of Bain Capital; since his departure became final, it has continued to be run by management committee.[34]
Bain Capital itself, and especially its actions and investments during its first 15 years, came under press scrutiny as the result of Romney's 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns.[31][83][84] Romney's leave of absence and the level of activity he had within the firm during the 1999-2002 period also garnered attention.[85][86][87][88][89][90]

Early 2000s[edit]


In 2002, Bain acquired Burger Kingtogether with TPG Capital and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners.
In 2000, DIC Entertainment chairman and CEO Andy Heyward partnered with Bain Capital Inc in a management buyout of DIC from The Walt Disney Co. Heyward continued as chairman and CEO of the animation studio, which has more than 2,500 half-hours of programming in its library. He purchased Bain Capital's interest in 2004 and took the company public the following year.
Bain Capital began the new decade by closing on its seventh fund, Bain Capital Fund VII, with over $3.1 billion of investor commitments. The firm's most notable investments in 2000 included the $700 million acquisition of Datek, the online stock brokerage firm,[91] as well as the $305 million acquisition of KB Toys from Consolidated Stores.[92] Datek was ultimately merged with Ameritrade in 2002. KB Toys, which had been financially troubled since the 1990s as a result of increased pressure from national discount chains such as Walmart and Target, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2004. Bain had been able to recover value on its investment through a dividend recapitalization in 2003.[93] In early 2001, Bain agreed to purchase a 30 percent stake, worth $600 million, in Huntsman Corporation, a leading chemical company owned by Jon Huntsman, Sr., but the deal was never completed.[94][95]
With a significant amount of committed capital in its new fund available for investment, Bain was one of a handful of private equity investors capable of completing large transactions in the adverse conditions of the early 2000s recession. In July 2002, Bain together with TPG Capital and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, announced the high-profile $2.3 billion leveraged buyout of Burger King from Diageo.[96] However, in November the original transaction collapsed, when Burger King failed to meet certain performance targets. In December 2002, Bain and its co-investors agreed on a reduced $1.5 billion purchase price for the investment.[97] The Bain consortium had support from Burger King's franchisees, who controlled approximately 92% of Burger King restaurants at the time of the transaction. Under its new owners, Burger King underwent a major brand overhaul including the use of The Burger King character in advertising. In February 2006, Burger King announced plans for an initial public offering.[98]
In late 2002, Bain remained active acquiring Houghton Mifflin for $1.28 billion, together with Thomas H. Lee Partners and Blackstone Group. Houghton Mifflin and Burger King represented two of the first large club deals, completed since the collapse of the Dot-com bubble.[99]
In November 2003, Bain completed an investment in Warner Music Group. In 2004 Bain acquired the Dollarama chain of dollar stores, based in MontrealQuebecCanada and operating stores in the provinces of Eastern Canada for $1.05 billion CAD. In March 2004, Bain acquired Brenntag Group from Deutsche Bahn AG (Exited in 2006; sold to BC Partnersfor $4B). In August 2003, Bain acquired a 50% interest in Bombardier Inc.'s recreational products division, along with the Bombardier family and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, and created Bombardier Recreational Products or BRP.

Bain and the 2000s buy-out boom[edit]


Bain led a consortium in the buyout of Toys "R" Us in 2004
In 2004 a consortium comprising KKR, Bain Capital and real estate development company Vornado Realty Trust announced the $6.6 billion acquisition of Toys "R" Us, the toy retailer. A month earlier, Cerberus Capital Management, made a $5.5 billion offer for both the toy and baby supplies businesses.[100] The Toys 'R' Us buyout was one of the largest in several years.[101] Following this transaction, by the end of 2004 and in 2005, major buyouts were once again becoming common and market observers were stunned by the leverage levels and financing terms obtained by financial sponsors in their buyouts.[102]
The following year, in 2005, Bain was one of seven private equity firms involved in the buyout of SunGard in a transaction valued at $11.3 billion. Bain's partners in the acquisition were Silver Lake PartnersTPG CapitalGoldman Sachs Capital PartnersKohlberg Kravis RobertsProvidence Equity Partners, and Blackstone Group. This represented the largest leveraged buyout completed since the takeover of RJR Nabisco at the end of the 1980s leveraged buyout boom. Also, at the time of its announcement, SunGard would be the largest buyout of a technology company in history, a distinction it would cede to the buyout of Freescale Semiconductor. The SunGard transaction is also notable in the number of firms involved in the transaction, the largest club deal completed to that point. The involvement of seven firms in the consortium was criticized by investors in private equity who considered cross-holdings among firms to be generally unattractive.[103][104]

Bain led the buyout of Dunkin' Brands for $2.4 billion in 2005
Bain led a consortium, together with The Carlyle Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners to acquire Dunkin' Brands. The private equity firms paid $2.425 billion in cash for the parent company of Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins in December 2005.[105]
In 2006, Bain Capital and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, together with Merrill Lynch and the Frist family (which had founded the company) completed a $31.6 billion acquisition of Hospital Corporation of America, 17 years after it was taken private for the first time in a management buyout. At the time of its announcement, the HCA buyout would be the first of several to set new records for the largest buyout, eclipsing the 1989 buyout of RJR Nabisco. It would later be surpassed by the buyouts of Equity Office Properties and TXU.[106] In August 2006, Bain was part of the consortium, together with Kohlberg Kravis RobertsSilver Lake Partners and AlpInvest Partners, that acquired a controlling 80.1% share of semiconductors unit of Philips for €6.4 billion. The new company, based in the Netherlands, was renamed NXP Semiconductors.[107][108]
During the buyout boom, Bain was active in the acquisition of various retail businesses.[109] In January 2006, Bain announced the acquisition of Burlington Coat Factory, a discount retailer operating 367 department stores in 42 states, in a $2 billion buyout transaction.[110] Six months later, in October 2006, Bain and The Blackstone Group acquired Michaels Stores, the largest arts and crafts retailer in North America in a $6.0 billion leveraged buyout. Bain and Blackstone narrowly beat out Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and TPG Capital in an auction for the company.[111] In June 2007, Bain agreed to acquire HD Supply, the wholesale construction supply business of Home Depot for $10.3 billion.[112] Bain, along with partners Carlyle Group and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, would later negotiate a lower price ($8.5 billion) when the initial stages of the subprime mortgage crisis caused lenders to seek to renegotiate the terms of the acquisition financing.[113] Just days after the announcement of the HD Supply deal, on June 27, Bain announced the acquisition of Guitar Center, the leading musical equipment retailer in the U.S. Bain paid $1.9 billion, plus $200 million in assumed debt, representing a 26% premium to the stock's closing price prior to the announcement.[114] Bain also acquired Edcon Limited, which operates Edgars Department Stores in South Africa and Zimbabwe for 25 billion-rand ($3.5 billion) in February 2007.[115]
Other investments during the buyout boom included: Bavaria Yachtbau, acquired for €1.3 billion in July 2007[116] as well as Sensata Technologies, acquired from Texas Instruments in 2006 for approximately $3 billion.[117]

Since 2008[edit]

In the wake of the closure of the credit markets in 2007 and 2008, Bain managed to close only a small number of sizable transactions. In July 2008, Bain, together with NBC Universaland Blackstone Group agreed to purchase The Weather Channel from Landmark Communications.[118][119]
Subsequent investments include, but are not limited to:

Businesses and affiliates[edit]

Bain Capital's family of funds includes private equityventure capitalpublic equity, and leveraged debt assets.

Bain Private Equity[edit]

Bain Capital Private Equity has raised ten funds and invested in more than 250 companies. The private equity activity includes leveraged buyouts and growth capital in a wide variety of industries.[139] Bain began investing in Europe in 1989 through its London-based affiliate Bain Capital Europe.[140] Bain also operates international affiliates Bain Capital Asia and Bain Capital India.
Bain Capital Private Equity is made up of more than 250 investment professionals, including 38 managing directors operating from offices in Boston, Hong Kong, London, Mumbai, Munich, New York, Shanghai, and Tokyo, as of the beginning of 2011.
Historically, Bain has primarily relied on private equity funds, pools of committed capital from pension fundsinsurance companiesendowmentsfund of fundshigh-net-worth individualssovereign wealth funds and other institutional investors. Bain's own investment professionals are the largest single investor in each of its funds. From 1993, when Bain raised its first institutional fund through the beginning of 2012, Bain had completed fundraising for 11 funds with total investor commitments of over $38 billion, including its global private equity funds and separate funds focusing specifically on investments in Europe and Asia. Since 1998, each of Bain's global funds has invested alongside a coinvestment fund that invests only in certain larger transactions. The following is a summary of Bain's private equity funds raised from its inception through the beginning of 2012:[141]
FundVintage
Year
Committed
Capital ($m)
Bain Capital Fund IV1993$300
Bain Capital Fund V1995$500
Bain Capital Fund VI1998$1,400[142]
Bain Capital Fund VII2000$3,117[142]
Bain Capital Fund VIII2004$4,250[142]
Bain Capital Fund VIII-E (Europe)2004$1,015
Bain Capital Fund IX2006$10,000[142]
Bain Capital Europe III2008€3,500
Bain Capital Asia2008$1,000
Bain Capital Fund X2008$11,800[142]
Bain Capital Asia II2011$2,000

Bain Capital Ventures[edit]

Bain Capital Ventures is the venture capital arm of Bain Capital, focused on seed through late-stage growth equity, investing in business services, consumer, healthcare, internet & mobile, and software companies. Bain Capital Ventures has raised approximately $1.53 billion of investor capital since 2001 across four investment funds.
The following is a summary of Bain's private equity funds raised from its inception through the beginning of 2012:[141]
FundVintage
Year
Committed
Capital ($m)
Bain Capital Venture Fund2001$250
Bain Capital Venture Partners 20052005$250
Bain Capital Venture Partners 20072007$500
Bain Capital Venture Partners 20092009$525
Bain Capital Venture Partners 20122012$600[143]
Since 2001, Bain Capital Ventures' most notable investments include DoubleClickLinkedIn,[144] Shopping.comTaleo CorporationMinuteClinic and SurveyMonkey.[145]

Bain Capital Public Equity[edit]

Previously known as Brookside Capital,[146] Bain Capital Public Equity is the public equity affiliate of Bain Capital. Established in October 1996, Bain Capital Public Equity's primary objective is to invest in securities of publicly traded companies that offer opportunities to realize substantial long-term capital appreciation. Bain Capital Public Equity employs a long/short equity strategy to reduce market risk in the portfolio[147]

Bain Capital Credit[edit]

Formerly known as Sankaty Advisors,[146] Bain Capital Credit is the fixed income affiliate of Bain Capital, a manager of high yield debt securities. With approximately $30 billion of assets under management, Bain Capital Credit invests in a wide variety of securities, including leveraged loanshigh-yield bondsdistressed securitiesmezzanine debtconvertible bondsstructured products and equity investments. Bain Capital Credit has approximately 140 employees, including 80 investment professionals across offices in the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia.[148]

Appraisals and critiques[edit]

Bain Capital's approach of applying consulting expertise to the companies it invested in became widely copied within the private equity industry.[16][149] University of Chicago Booth School of Business economist Steven Kaplan said in 2011 that the firm "came up with a model that was very successful and very innovative and that now everybody uses."[19]
In his 2009 book The Buyout of America: How Private Equity Is Destroying Jobs and Killing the American Economy, Josh Kosman described Bain Capital as "notorious for its failure to plow profits back into its businesses," being the first large private-equity firm to derive a large fraction of its revenues from corporate dividends and other distributions. The revenue potential of this strategy, which may "starve" a company of capital,[150] was increased by a 1970s court ruling that allowed companies to consider the entire fair-market value of the company, instead of only their "hard assets", in determining how much money was available to pay dividends.[151] In at least some instances, companies acquired by Bain borrowed money in order to increase their dividend payments, ultimately leading to the collapse of what had been financially stable businesses.[55]




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