The Carlyle Group cut its teeth with companies serving Uncle Sam and recently invested in such a firm.
Carlyle's press release stated:
Unison (www.unisonglobal.com), a leading provider of procurement, supply chain, and contract management software to Federal government agencies and government contractors, today announced it has been acquired by global investment firm The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG), and Unison management. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Carlyle previously owned the business from 2005 to 2010.
Unison’s solutions help government agencies and contractors navigate the complex rules and compliance requirements of procurement and grants, program management and contract lifecycle management..Contracting became an issue during the coronavirus outbreak in the Northeast and appears to be an issue as widespread outbreaks occur in southern and western states. Did Carlyle buy back into Unison after watching Kushner's slim suit crowd stumble and fall in coronavirus procurement?
Vanity Fair reported:
“We’re on the other side of the medical aspect of this and I think that we’ve achieved all of the different milestones that are needed,” Kushner said last month. “The federal government rose to the challenge.”The virus has now killed more than 135,000. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services currently uses Unison purchasing software according to the company's website.
But behind the scenes of that so-called “extraordinary” work by the Trump administration, things have seemed far less rosy. According to news reports and a recent whistleblower complaint, Kushner’s crack squad of young private sector volunteers—hailing from venture capital, private equity and consulting firms—has been beset by crippling incompetence and political cronyism, exacerbating the federal government’s gross mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis that has killed more than 70,000 in the United States.
“Americans are facing a crisis of tragic proportions and there is an urgent need for an effective, efficient and bold response,” a member of Kushner’s team said in a whistleblower report sent to the House Oversight Committee on April 8, and which was obtained by the Washington Post. “From my few weeks as a volunteer, I believe we are falling short.”
According to the whistleblower, volunteers on Kushner’s team often lacked relevant qualifications to help get necessary resources to hospitals fighting the COVID crisis, with team members who didn’t have sufficient “health care, procurement, or supply-chain operations” experience assigned to help obtain and direct supplies to medical workers.
As the volunteer on Kushner’s team wrote in the April complaint, “These problems affect the entire chain of command, hamper our ability to respond and could result in many Americans losing their lives.”
Leading acquisition professionals in all 15 cabinet level agencies rely on Unison’s Acquisition suite.
Uncle Sam gave billions in grants to the wealthy and politically connected. A number of private equity underwriters (PEU) received federal subsidies via affiliates, supposedly not allowed by law. Will Unison play a role in forgiving billions in federal funds that went to the right people in the wrong companies?
Let's hope Unison can get testing supplies, PPE and contact tracers to communities in need ASAP.
Update 7-13-20: Right people includes billionaire family offices.
Update 7-12-22: Carlyle will sell a majority stake in Unison to Madison Dearborn Parnters
