Connecting Blum Capital Partners to Fremont Group, CBRE and Philip Anschutz the Denver Billionaire.
PLaintiff Pete Bennett in the matter of Bennett v. Southern Pacific his case went down in flames
one day on the courthouse steps.
These details are here for investigators to follow.
1998 Advanced Telecom Group, founded Santa Rosa,
CA
2000 ATG Acquires other CLECs and moves into other
states
2001 ATG Santa Rosa, CA begins collapsing, forced sale to
alleged stronger partners in the interest of consumers old to
TPG for the deeply discounted valuation of $500,000
Fact #1 About 200 employees provided friends of Richard Blum
a significant discount of about $300,000 for the line sales to
customers on a fake all out run for new accounts. ATG acquired
assets for significant discount thus striping investors of about
500M while acquiring assets sold for the meager price of $500,000 to
Telepacific Group owned by Texas Pacific Group. Fact #2 In
2001, I was employed by ATG where I was practically forced to take
the job. What wasn't known was the connections where Richard
Blum, took the assets from ATG leaving employees unpaid and that
some Alamo 1st Mormons were connected to Richard Blum. Fact
#3My documents were taken in 2004 by Alamo 1st
Mormons, the how not important, but what was lost is important.
Files: Albert D. Seeno Discovery Homes (Fraud and RICO Charges)
$850M fraud case
$40M fraud case
SBC Services
Contracts for project around 9/11
Attorney Client Communications
Payroll / Business Records
Names of witnesses murdered
Copy of litigation, witness statements
Settlement Papers
Contracts connected to ;the murders of several of my
customers.
Becuase they needed funding to intimidate Pete Bennett so the UC System could kidnapped his sons
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.
This piece is co-published with investigative reporting outlet Capital & Main.
University of California regents approved a nine-figure investment in a private equity fund run by a major donor to Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, whose husband sits on the regents’ board. The investment was disclosed just as some of the private equity fund’s overseers and advisers were pumping thousands of dollars of donations into Feinstein’s campaign, according to documents reviewed by Capital & Main.
Since 1992, Bonderman and his wife have donated more than $32,000 to Feinstein’s political campaigns. Additionally, donors associated with the RISE fund’s board and advisory panel have contributed more than $65,000 to Feinstein’s campaigns and political action committee. That includes $15,400 of donations in the three-week period surrounding the disclosure of UC’s investment in the RISE fund. Those donations came from Salesforce founder Marc Benioff and his wife, Lynne, as well as from Ariel Investments president Mellody Hobson. Marc Benioff and Hobson, who is married to George Lucas of Star Wars fame, sit on the RISE Fund’s Founders Board.
In general, securities laws require public officials to make investment decisions on the basis of merit, not personal relationships or political contributions. A 2010 Securities and Exchange Commission rule was explicitly designed to deter financial firms from using campaign contributions to influence investment decisions.
Blum argues that there is no conflict of interest.
“I’ve never heard of the RISE Fund,” he told Capital & Main. “We used to be partners with TPG. We’ve done investments together. But I have nothing to do with TPG or the RISE Fund… [The University of California investment office] never checks with me on anything.”
Blum conceded that, in addition to his business and personal relationships with Bonderman and TPG, he also knows another top TPG and RISE Fund executive, Jim Coulter, and added, “I occasionally get together with [UC Chief Investment Officer] Jagdeep [Singh Bachher] and we talk about philosophy.”
Singh Bachher is in charge of oversight and management of UC’s investment in the RISE Fund.
Capital & Main asked TPG if it had disclosed its executives’ relationships with Blum and donations to Feinstein. In a statement, TPG said that it “adheres to the strongest compliance standards and all political donations are subjected to compliance review and clearance, and in the case of federal officials are publicly disclosed through the Federal Election Commission. TPG responded in the ordinary course to due diligence questions posed by UC in connection with its investment.”
The University of California forwarded the regents’ conflict of interest policy and made no other comment. Senator Feinstein did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
“The decision by the UC regents to make an investment in a fund run by a close friend and business partner of Richard Blum raises potential issues of institutional corruption,” said Jay Youngdahl, an attorney and pension expert. “When money saved for workers’ retirement is placed into high-fee investments that benefit those close to politicians, questions need to be asked and answered. Investment funds in several states have suffered problems with similar practices.”
Blum, Bonderman and the UC system are no strangers to controversy surrounding their investment and business practices.
Blum in recent years has faced questions about his overlapping business and political interests. In 2013, he was lambasted by investigative journalist Peter Byrne when Blum’s real estate firm, CBRE, got a $118-plus million contract to sell and lease U.S. Postal Service property. In 2015, the Postal Service’s inspector general recommended that the contract be terminated. Blum was also criticized by Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times for his role in using CalPERS, the state employees’ retirement fund, to purchase the for-profit higher education firm ITT. At the same time he was investing in ITT, which has now been shut down (at a significant loss to CalPERS), Blum was voting to increase UC tuition by 32 percent.
More recently, Blum Capital was blamed by Payless ShoeSource’s creditors for bankrupting the chain to provide $350 million in dividends to Blum Capital and its business partner on the deal, Golden Gate Capital. In the Blum and Golden Gate-initiated bankruptcy, Payless closed 700 stores, laid off hundreds and sued former employees to repay for small signing and relocation bonuses the company had given out.
Similarly, the SEC fined TPG $13 million for misleading investors in December 2017. In June 2017, Bonderman resigned from Uber’s board after making a comment widely seen as offensive to women. And in 2015, TPG was sued by its former communications director, Adam Levine, who had also worked as deputy press secretary for George W. Bush. Levine claimed in legal filings that the firm “miss-billed [sic] expenses, flouted compliance rules, and gave inaccurate information about its investment team,” according to Reuters. The lawsuit was dropped later in the year, according to the firm.
Meanwhile, the UC Retirement Plan has lately been engulfed in scandal over pay-to-play allegations.
In early September, the pension trade publication Institutional Investor published a report showing that the retirement system’s chief investment officer faced “serious charges of mismanagement.” The report also highlighted allegations from an anonymous tipster with inside information that Bachher had placed $250 million in a fund run by a former UC regent, Paul Wachter, who had participated in Bachher’s hiring. The investment was opposed by other top investment staff at UC, the article said.
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Blum Capital Partners, a leading investment firm active in investing in both privately structured investments as well as strategic blocks of publicly traded securities, today announced that Peter Westley and Carol Fu have joined Blum Capital’s investment team as partner and associate, respectively.
“We are fortunate to have professionals as accomplished as Peter and Carol join our team”
Mr. Westley, 48, brings significant investment experience to Blum Capital. He was previously a Managing Director at Salomon Smith Barney and a Partner at ThinkEquity Partners. Most recently, he was a Partner at North Point Advisors, an investment banking firm specializing in mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Westley has been both an investor and financial advisor during his career, raising more than $10 billion in equity and debt capital, and advising on more than $2 billion of transactions for his clients in a variety of industries.
Mr. Westley received his MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University and BA from Dartmouth College.
“It is a privilege to be joining the firm,” said Mr. Westley. “Richard Blum’s long-term track record as a strategic financial investor is outstanding. His work as a philanthropist is equally impressive. I am also pleased to be joining Jane Su, who I have known and respected as an investor for more than 20 years. I look forward to working with Richard, Jane, and the rest of the team at Blum Capital, to take advantage of future investment opportunities on behalf of the firm’s investors.”
Ms. Fu, 28, joins Blum Capital with an extensive background in global equities. Previously, she was a senior analyst at Maverick Capital in New York City and San Francisco where she identified investment opportunities and conducted research within the industrial and energy sectors. Her experience also includes positions at Blackstone Group, Merrill Lynch and HSBC Securities, all based in Hong Kong, and at UBS in London. Ms. Fu holds a B.S. degree from the Imperial College in London, a Masters degree in Statistical Sciences from the University of Cambridge, and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
“We are fortunate to have professionals as accomplished as Peter and Carol join our team,” said Jane Su, Co-Managing Partner at Blum Capital.
Ms. Su further noted that Blum Capital plans to continue to enhance its team of senior investment professionals in the coming months to serve both the firm’s existing investors and to expand the Blum franchise.
About Blum Capital Partners
Blum Capital Partners is a San Francisco-based public strategic block and private investment firm with approximately $1.6 billion of equity capital under management. Blum Capital Partners was founded in 1975 and has invested in a wide variety of businesses, including through multiple going-private transactions. Throughout its history, Blum has demonstrated its expertise in proactively identifying attractive businesses to own, determining the most favorable ways to invest in those businesses across the public/private spectrum and helping to drive value creation as an active, engaged partner to management teams.
Connecting Pete Bennett to Senator Dianne Feinstein
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
EX-10.9 6 a2119764zex-10_9.htm EXHIBIT 10.9 QuickLinks-- Click here to rapidly navigate through this document
Exhibit 10.9
JOINDER AND AMENDMENT AGREEMENT
This Joinder and Amendment Agreement is dated as of June 25, 2003 among (i) Fremont Partners, L.P., (ii) Blum Capital Partners, L.P., (iii) Kinetic Concepts, Inc. ("KCI"), (iv) The Common Fund for Non-Profit Organizations, for the account of its Multi-Strategy Equity Fund (the "Common Fund"), (v) Stinson Capital Partners II, L.P., (vi) RCBA-KCI Capital Partners, L.P., (vii) Fremont Partners Side-by-Side, L.P., (viii) Fremont-KCI Co-Investment Company, L.L.C., (ix) Fremont Purchaser II, Inc., (x) Fremont Acquisition Company II, L.L.C. (xi) Fremont Acquisition Company IIA, L.L.C., (xii) Fremont Offshore Partners, L.P., (xiii) James R. Leininger, M.D., (xiv) Blum Strategic Partners II, L.P. ("Strategic II") and (xv) Blum Strategic Partners II GmbH & Co. KG ("Strategic II Germany"). WHEREAS, the Shareholders are parties to an Agreement among Shareholders, dated as of November 5, 1997 (the "Shareholders Agreement"); WHEREAS, the Common Fund wishes to transfer to Strategic II and Strategic II Germany, and Strategic II and Strategic II Germany wish to purchase from The Common Fund all of its shares of Common Stock; WHEREAS, each of Strategic II and Strategic II Germany are Affiliates of Blum Capital Partners, L.P.; and WHEREAS, each of the parties hereto wishes to permit such transfer, have Strategic II and Strategic II Germany become a party to, and be governed by, the provisions of the Shareholders Agreement, and include Strategic II and Strategic II Germany in Schedules 1.11 and 1.12 of the Shareholders Agreement and as members of the RCBA/KCI Group; NOW, THEREFORE, for good and valuable consideration, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, the parties hereto agree to modify and amend the Shareholders Agreement as follows: 1. Joinder. As of the date hereof, each of Strategic II and Strategic II Germany shall become a party to, and be bound by, the terms of the Shareholders Agreement as a Shareholder with the same effect as if they each had been an original party thereto. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, each of the parties hereto agrees that the Shareholders Agreement will be amended to (i) amend and restate Schedules 1.11 and 1.12 in their entirety such that they are in the forms attached as Exhibits A and B hereto, respectively and (ii) include each of Strategic II and Strategic II Germany in the definition of "RCBA/KCI Group." 2. Waiver and Withdrawal. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Shareholders Agreement, each of the parties hereto expressly consents to the Transfer of the shares of Common Stock held by the Common Fund to Strategic II and Strategic II Germany, waives any rights it may have with respect to such Transfer. The Common Fund expressly withdraws from the Shareholders Agreement as of the date hereof and agrees that it shall have no rights or obligations as a Shareholder thereunder as of the date hereof. 3. Effectiveness. This Agreement shall become effective as to each party upon its execution by the parties on the date set forth above. Except as specifically modified herein, the Shareholders Agreement shall continue in full force and effect in accordance with the provisions thereof. 4. Defined Terms. Capitalized terms used but not defined herein shall have the meanings assigned to such terms in the Shareholders Agreement. 5. Headings. The titles of the Sections of this Agreement are for convenience only and shall not be interpreted to limit or amplify the provisions of this Agreement. 6. Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in multiple counterparts, each of which shall be deemed as an original and all of which, taken together, shall constitute one and the same instrument, which may be sufficiently evidenced by one counterpart. 7. Severability. Each provision of this Agreement shall be considered separable and if for any reason any provision or provisions hereof are determined to be invalid and contrary to any existing or future law, such invalidity shall not impair the operation of or affect those portions of this Agreement that are valid. 8. Applicable Law. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware without giving effect to the conflicts of law principles thereof.
2
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, each of the undersigned has executed this agreement as of the date first written above.
FREMONT PARTNERS, L.P.
By:
FP Advisors, L.L.C. its managing member
By:
Fremont Group, L.L.C., its managing member
By:
Fremont Investors, Inc., its manager
By:
/s/ JAMES FARRELLName: Title:
BLUM CAPITAL PARTNERS, L.P.
By:
Richard C. Blum & Associates, Inc., its General Partner
By:
/s/ N. COLIN LINDName: N. Colin Lind Title: Managing Partner
KINETIC CONCEPTS, INC.
By:
/s/ DENNIS E. NOLLName: Dennis E. Noll Title: Sr. Vice President
3
FREMONT OFFSHORE PARTNERS, L.P.
By:
FP Advisors, L.L.C., its non-member manager
By:
Fremont Group, L.L.C., its managing member
By:
Fremont Investors, Inc., its manager
By:
/s/ JAMES FARRELLName: Title:
/s/ JAMES R. LEININGER, M.D.James R. Leininger, M.D.
BLUM STRATEGIC PARTNERS II, L.P.
By:
Blum Strategic GP II, L.L.C., its managing member
By:
/s/ N. COLIN LINDName: N. Colin Lind Title: Managing Member
BLUM STRATEGIC PARTNERS II GMBH & CO. KG
By:
Blum Strategic GP II, L.L.C., its managing limited partner
By:
/s/ N. COLIN LINDName: N. Colin Lind Title: Managing Member
4
THE COMMON FUND FOR NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS, for the account of its Multi-Strategy Equity Fund
By:
Blum Capital Partners, L.P., its attorney-in-fact
By:
Richard C. Blum & Associates, Inc., its General Partner
By:
/s/ ROBERT L. BOVINETTEName: Robert L. Bovinette Title: President
STINSON CAPITAL PARTNERS II, L.P.
By:
Blum Capital Partners, L.P., its General Partner
By:
Richard C. Blum & Associates, Inc., its General Partner
By:
/s/ N. COLIN LINDName: N. Colin Lind Title: Managing Member
RCBA-KCI CAPITAL PARTNERS, L.P.
By:
Blum Capital Partners, L.P., its General Partner
By:
Richard C. Blum & Associates, Inc., its General Partner
By:
/s/ N. COLIN LINDName: N. Colin Lind Title: Managing Member
FREMONT PARTNERS SIDE-BY-SIDE, L.P.
By:
Fremont Group, L.L.C., its General Partner
By:
Fremont Investors, Inc., its manager
By:
/s/ JAMES FARRELLName: Title:
5
FREMONT-KCI CO-INVESTMENT COMPANY, LLC.
By:
FP Advisors, L.L.C., its member-manager
By:
Fremont Group, L.L.C., its managing member
By:
Fremont Investors, Inc., its manager
By:
/s/ JAMES FARRELLName: Title:
FREMONT PURCHASER II, INC.
By:
/s/ JAMES FARRELLName: Title:
FREMONT ACQUISITION COMPANY II, L.L.C.
By:
Fremont Partners, L.P., its member
By:
FP Advisors, L.L.C., its General Partner
By:
Fremont Group, L.L.C., its managing member
By:
Fremont Investors, Inc., its manager
By:
/s/ JAMES FARRELLName: Title:
FREMONT ACQUISITION COMPANY IIA, L.L.C.
By:
FP Advisors, L.L.C., its non-member manager
By:
Fremont Group, L.L.C., its managing member
By:
Fremont Investors, Inc., its manager
By:
/s/ JAMES FARRELLName: Title:
6
Exhibit A Amended & Restated Schedule 1.11
List of Affiliates of Richard C. Blum & Associates, L.P.: Stinson Capital Partners, L.P. Stinson Capital Partners II, L.P. BK Capital Partners IV, L.P. The Carpenters Pension Trust for Southern California United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America Local Unions and Councils Pension Fund Insurance Company Supported Organizations Pension Plan Richard C. Blum & Associates, Inc. Richard C. Blum Prism Partners I, LP. Weintraub Capital Management Jerald M. Weintraub RCBA-KCI Capital Partners, L.P. RCBA Purchaser I, L.P. Blum Strategic Partners II, L.P. Blum Strategic Partners II GmbH & Co. KG
7
Exhibit B Amended & Restated Schedule 1.12
Members of the RCBA/KCI Group: RCBA-KCI Capital Partners, L.P. Stinson Capital Partners II, L.P. RCBA Purchaser I, L.P. Blum Strategic Partners II, L.P. Blum Strategic Partners II GmbH & Co. KG