Fred Malek, founder and chairman of Thayer Capital Partners and ex-Carlyle Group Senior Advisor, will chair Governor Bob McDonnell's Government Reform & Restructuring Commission. The Commission is tasked with developing recommendations to streamline and restructure Virginia's state government.
Another private equity underwriter (PEU) sits on the body, Geoff Segal of Macquarie Capital. What does PEU leadership portend? Public-private partnerships in safe regulated waters.
Segal spoke at The World Bank Institute on PPP-Infrastructure equity financing from the strategic investor viewpoint. Virginia may lease port operations infrastructure to private firms, with the Carlyle Group submitting a conceptual proposal.
Virginia's Restructuring Commission comes on the heels of President Obama's Deficit Commission, which also is chaired by a PEU. I'm sure Fred Malek already knows Erskine Bowles. PEU boys run in a pack. Red and Blue political affiliations don't matter when there's money to be made.
