OMB Nominee Thinks Torture Works

President Elect Joe Biden is a forgiving man in his appointment of Neera Tanden for OMB Chief.  PEUReport wrote in December 2016:

 

Neera Tanden:    To tell me that Biden (or his people - unclear to me who) are calling asking for support. Not doing a hard sell. Apparently, he's having some meeting in Washington that he's asking people to attend.  You've probably heard stuff like this, but on the off chance you haven't, letting you know.  Aug 14, 2015 4:49 PM

John Podesta:   Yup. Hunter, Mike Donilon, Ricchetti. Biden can't seem to lean on people. Still can't figure out whether he'll rally himself to do it. Hadn't heard about DC meeting. Losing more sleep over getting straight answers from Cheryl than this.  Aug 14, 2015 at 9:58 PM

Neera Tanden:  I was just at the Tower of London and the Rack seemed to be a very successful strategy for getting straight answers from at least some people.  (Source: Wikileaks e-mail 4115)

It's funny how today's Blue team sounds so much like the Reds. 

That was before the Red Team catered to President Trump's insatiable ego and vengeful rages.

President Elect Joe Biden's first two staff picks, Ron Klain and Anthony Blinken, came from private equity.  Neera Tanden catered to The Blackstone Group as Hillary Clinton's campaign advisor.  

Private equity underwriters (PEU) invest in both political parties so they can garner a share of the federal wallet no matter who wins office.  Bloomberg Tax reported on 11-5-20:

Private equity managers and their investors, who were concerned about progressive plans to increase taxes and regulation on their industry, are relieved the expected “blue wave” scenario that would have handed Democrats control of the presidency and both chambers of Congress now looks unlikely.

That’s led to jumps in the fortunes five of the wealthiest private equity titans at publicly traded firms since the election as stock prices rose.

The greed and leverage boys supported Tanden's Center for American Progress.

According to the lists CAP shared with POLITICO, the group received significant donations from some top Wall Street outfits — at least $100,000 from Citigroup and Stephen Schwarzman’s private-equity firm, Blackstone, and $50,000 from Bank of America and Goldman Sachs. Wells Fargo gave $5,000. 

Politicians Red and Blue love PEU.  Two of the three architects of PPACA are PEUs.  Tom Daschle's latest PEU job is with Pine Island Capital Partners while Nancy-Ann DeParle is with Consonance Capital.  Tanden is a PEU fan and will be able to steer vast portions of the federal wallet to the greed and leverage boys.

Update:  Glenn Greenwald eviscerated Tanden on a ZeroHedge post.

PEU Target FANCL

 

 

Reuters reported a spate of private equity underwriters (PEU) bid for FANCL's Asia business:

More than 10 entities, including buyout firms Blackstone and Carlyle, have lodged bids for skincare brand FANCL's Asia business outside Japan valuing it at close to $1 billion, said people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Bain Capital, MBK Partners, Sequoia Capital and CITIC Capital are also among bidders for CMC Holdings, the sole distributor of FANCL Corp's products in Asia outside Japan, the people said, declining to be named as the information is confidential.

With its ENRICH product FANCL appears to be a good PEU fit. 

Update 12-18-20:  Carlyle made the first cut and remains in the bidding for FANCL

Biden's Cabinet from PEU Pine Island Capital

 

President Joe Biden's Secretary of State Antony Blinken worked for Pine Island Capital Partners and the Defense Secretary nominee could come from the same private equity underwriter (PEU).  Two candidates, Michele Flourney and General Lloyd Austin have been mentioned for the top civilian defense slot.

Pine Island Capital Partners promotes the company as being deeply connected.  Representing the Red Team are former Senators Saxby Chambliss and Don Nickles, while the Blues have former House leader Dick Gephardt and former Senators Tom Daschle and Byron Dorgan.

How did a D.C. based private equity firm with only two affiliates, InVeris and  Precinmac, attract such talent?  Former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain could shed light on the answer.

FT wrote about Thain after the 2008 financial crisis:

John Thain is giving us a tour of what is soon to become America’s most infamous office, with its $87,000 rug, $68,000 sideboard, $28,000 curtains – all part of a $1.2m redecoration scheme. This was early December, a little under two months before Thain would be fired in the same room by his new boss, Ken Lewis, chief executive of Bank of ­America.

Thain went on to lead CIT out of bankruptcy and currently sits on the boards of Uber and Deutsche Bank.

Biden's appointment of multiple cabinet members from one PEU would be head scratching.  Then again, politicians Red and Blue love PEU, even if they have a lackluster SPAC.

Update 11-29-20:  NYT wrote a piece citing concerns about some Biden cabinet nominees.  PEUReport isn't alone in questioning how all this talent landed at one relatively small PEU.  Politico also did a piece on this.  Recall Obama health reformer continued to profit from her PEU work as a public servant in the White House.

Update 5-26-22:  Pine Island Capital's Tom Daschle came up with the idea to have Senators Bernie Sanders and Lindsey Graham debate.  The greed and leverage boys are happy for the public to be divided as they loot the federal treasury.  Does the debate winner get a free chauffeur and the use of a limousine?   It's a PEU perk.

Carlyle After Another Indian Pharma Company

 

Seeking Alpha reported:

• Carlyle Group is in advanced talks to buy Granules India, a pharmaceuticals maker, for ~$1B, India's CNBC-TV18 reports, citing three sources with direct knowledge of the deal.
  
• That would add on to Carlyle's pharmaceutical industry investments after recently acquiring Sequent Scientific and a  minority stake in Piramal Pharma.

It's not clear how Granules might grow Carlyle's COVID-19 profit plans.  Granules does have a clinical research and manufacturing arm as well as a number of FDA approved drug production sites.

Where Americans see high costs, Carlyle sees grand profits.

Everyone Cheers for Yellen

Michael Every of Rabobank wrote on ZeroHedge:

Yellen’s long career arc from academic economics to economic advisor to presidents, then to Fed chief, and now to economic chief for a president, has not exactly overlapped with a concurrent period of relative American economic ascent – or at least not for the majority of its population. Yellen of course expressed her concerns over inequality as far back as September 2014: yet the central conclusion of that speech was that the poor would be less poor if only they had more assets.

Reuters reported in April 2018, two months after she left the top job at the Fed:

Janet Yellen cashed in with her first paid visit to Wall Street since stepping down as Federal Reserve chair, discussing rate hikes and U.S. President Donald Trump at events on Monday that included a dinner for 40 at a CEO’s Manhattan penthouse.

Over the penthouse dinner of lobster, beef short ribs and matzo in the trendy Tribeca neighborhood, Yellen held court with executives from hedge funds, private equity firms and companies, according to two people briefed on the gathering.

The greed and leverage boys are front and center in President Elect Joe Biden's nominations.  Loud cheers for President Elect Biden's Treasury nominee.  Everyone loves Yellen, ..  

Politicians Red and Blue love PEU.

Trump Advisor Schwarzman Ready to Profit Under Biden

 

Axios reported:

It's over. That's what Blackstone chairman, CEO and co-founder Steve Schwarzman — one of President Trump's most loyal allies — and other top Republicans are signaling to the defeated president, 16 days after Joe Biden clinched the win. 

Schwarzman said in a statement to Axios that Biden won and it's time to move on. 

Bloomberg added:

The Trump era has been wildly lucrative for pretty much anyone who’s been invested in markets. Schwarzman has seen his personal fortune roughly double to $20 billion.

Blackstone had the Blue Team covered with Executive Vice Chairman Tony James and President/COO Jon Gray.

Schwarzman's capitulation was greased by President Elect Biden's appointment of two private equity underwriters, Ron Klain (Revolution LLC) and Antony Blinken (Pine Island Capital).  

In case a history rewrite is needed,  Schwarzman's alter ego Mr. Stone served as close advisor to President Trump.

 

 

That frees up the real Schwarzman to profit handsomely under the Blue Team.  Politicians Red and Blue love PEU. 

Biden's Secretary of State is PEU

President Joe Biden announced his nominee for Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.  Biden is two for two in naming private equity underwriters (PEU) to his administration.  Chief of Staff Ron Klain worked for Revolution LLC.  Antony Blinken worked for Pine Island Capital Partners.  Their website shows Blinken's status as "on leave."

Pine Island Capital Partners offers a differentiated approach to private equity investing in the middle market. 

Pine Island has combined an experienced investment team with a group of deeply-connected and accomplished former senior government and military officials. Each of our D.C. partners teams with the investment professionals to actively participate in sourcing deals, conducting analyses, winning bids, closing transactions, and directly advising the companies in which Pine Island invests.

Blinken used his deep connections to aid the greed and leverage boys.    

Pine Island Capital Partners seeks to invest in attractive mid-sized companies, with enterprise values ranging from $50 million to $500 million, that are positioned to benefit from the deep industry expertise, experience, and relationships that the firm’s partnership model can offer. 

Investments may take the form of a number of different transactions, including buyouts, roll-ups, recapitalizations, asset sales, divestitures, growth capital, and special situations. 

Surely there are talented Americans who haven't prioritized interest and special distributions over employees.  Blinken represents the winners in the U.S. economy over the last four decades.  He is of the executive class that has screwed workers while profiting handsomely.

Somehow FT couldn't find Blinken's PEU background in their story on Biden's announcement.  Blinken and Flournoy founded WestExec Advisors in 2018.  WestExec and Pine Island are intertwined.

Additional Pine Island Capital Partners are under consideration for cabinet slots under President Elect Biden.  Politicians Red and Blue love PEU.  That pattern is yet to break. 

Update 5-10-21:  ABC News reported:

Late last month, secretary of state nominee Tony Blinken reported making more than $1 million from his consulting firm WestExec Advisors, and entered an agreement to divest from the firm, according to his disclosures. 

What about his stake in Pine Island Capital and their funds/affiliates?