英语行业分析报告由第一代写网代写商业文书事业部提供。No friends of Blackstone
作者: Scott Cendrowski Once again The Blackstone Group is at the center of a headline-grabbing controversy.
After the tragic death of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau last week, Hollywood's animal rights advocates grabbed the moment to criticize the attraction's new owner. Private-equity giant Blackstone bought SeaWorld and nine other theme parks from Anheuser-Busch InBev for $2.3 billion last October.
TV host Bob Barker, a long-time animal-rights supporter, staged the first call for SeaWorld to shut down. "I must appeal to you to take strong action now so that it never happens again," he wrote in a letter to Blackstone's COO, Tony James, the day after Brancheau's death.
Matt Damon later told Entertainment Tonight at the premiere of his new film Green Zone, "I think they should just shut them all down. I've never been a fan of places like that."
But for all of last week's protestations, the show went on. Just three days after Brancheau's death, 2,200 people returned to watch SeaWorld's killer whales perform.
It's not the first time Blackstone (BX) has been a target. Ever since it moved into the public spotlight with an IPO in 2007, the private-equity firm and its billionaire chief, Steve Schwarzman, have made a few enemies -- many with far more pull than Barker and Damon. Here are a few of them.
The employees of Travelport
Blackstone bought the travel services company, which owns a stake in Orbitz.com, for more than $4 billion in 2006. Soon after, it started slashing jobs. Within two months, Travelport had laid off more than 800 people, or 10% of its workforce, according to the Wall Street Journal. Then the company borrowed $1.1 billion to pay a dividend to Blackstone and a partner. Both made their money back in just seven months, according to the Journal. Meanwhile, an additional 1,500 workers took buyouts.
Sander Levin, U.S. Congressman
The private equity industry was less than thrilled when Blackstone's IPO highlighted how private equity funds were being taxed. Carried interest, or the 20% of profits usually taken by private equity firms, is taxed well below the corporate rate. After Schwarzman made headlines for cashing in $700 million of stock from the IPO, lawmakers took notice. Rep. Sander Levin, a Michigan Democrat, introduced a bill that would more than double the rate. So far the congressman's efforts have gone nowhere, but President Obama has included the hike in his 2011 budget blueprint.
The SEC
Last fall the Securities and Exchange Commission was considering a rule to ban middleman who solicit money for private equity funds from large investors. The rule was in response to the pay-to-play scandal at many states' retirement funds. Smack in the middle of the cross hairs was Blackstone, which pays "placement agents" to help it raise capital. Schwarzman defended the agents, writing in a five-page letter posted on the S.E.C.'s web site that Blackstone relied on these third parties to raise $850 million for its first private-equity fund. Regulators haven't yet made a final decision.
Its Own CEO
Steve Schwarzman threw himself a 60th birthday party few have forgotten. The $3 million soiree in Manhattan's Park Avenue Armory in February 2007 marked a peak to the modern gilded age. Rod Stewart was the main attraction. Patti LaBelle sang Happy Birthday. If anyone had any doubt about the private-equity leader's love of lavish spectacles, five hundred guests dining on lobster and filet mignon sealed the deal.
Henry Kravis
The buyout legend and co-founder of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. leads one of Blackstone's biggest rivals. A feud between Schwarzman and Kravis grew after Blackstone's IPO and his elaborate birthday party. According to a Vanity Fair profile of the two men in 2007, Kravis was furious that Schwarzman brought so much attention to the private equity industry. Lawmakers soon swarmed in with new tax proposals. Kravis later snubbed his rival by not attending a New York Public Library fundraiser hosted in Schwarzman's honor, according to the profile, though it also cited a spokesperson who explained that Kravis was out of town that night.
Starwood Hotels
Last April Starwood (HOT, Fortune 500) sued Hilton Hotels, which is owned by Blackstone, and accused two Hilton executives of using a confidential formula to start a new hotel line called Denizen. Both executives have since left Hilton, and lawyers for the two said a criminal investigation would not reveal grounds for criminal charges, The Times of London reported last year. But Starwood took it a step further in January and accused Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta of knowing that his executives had proprietary Starwood documents, though the lawsuit did not name him as a defendant. Hilton denies liability in Starwood's lawsuit. Last month a federal court filing indicated that prosecutors were investigating criminal charges in the alleged fraud. The espionage case is still pending.
Investors
Blackstone went public in June 2007 just in time to make its executives rich and its stock a dud. Schwarzman and co-founder Pete Peterson were instant billionaires. But the stock, which priced at $31 for its IPO, fell below $22 by that September. Overall, shares have lost 54% of their value since listing.
黑石集团四面楚歌
英语行业分析报告由第一代写网代写商业文书事业部提供 作者: Scott Cendrowski 时间: 2010年03月10日 自从2007年首次公开上市以来，黑石集团这家私募基金公司不断树敌。我们来看看它的仇敌名单。
黑石集团（The Blackstone Group）再次被推到了风口浪尖。
上周，海洋世界（SeaWorld）驯兽师道恩•布朗楚（Dawn Brancheau）惨死，好莱坞的动物权益保护者趁机大力抨击海洋世界的新东家。去年十月，私募基金巨头黑石集团以23亿美元从安海斯-布希英博(Anheuser-Busch InBev)手中买下了海洋世界以及另外九个主题公园。
动物权益的忠实保护者、电视主持人鲍勃•巴克（Bob Barker）打响了要求关闭海洋世界的第一枪。布朗楚死后第二天，巴克写信给黑石集团首席运营官托尼•詹姆斯（Tony James）说：“我必须请求您现在就采取有力的行动，以防悲剧再次发生。”
之后，在新片《绿区》（Green Zone）的首映式上，马特•达蒙（Matt Damon）向《娱乐今宵》（Entertainment Tonight）节目表示：“我认为应该关掉所有的海洋世界。我从来就不喜欢那种地方。”
虽然上周发表了大量严正声明，但演出仍然在继续。就在布朗楚死后3天，2200名观众再次来到海洋世界观看杀死布朗楚的虎鲸表演。
这可不是黑石集团第一次成为众矢之的。自从2007年黑石集团首次公开上市，进入公众视野以来，黑石集团及其亿万富翁老总史蒂夫•施瓦茨曼（Steve Schwarzman）树敌不少，其中很多比巴克和达蒙的影响力大得多。以下就是几个例子。
美国有方公司员工
2006年，黑石集团斥资40多亿美元收购了旅游服务公司美国有方（Travelport），后者拥有旅游网站Orbitz.com的股份。之后很快，美国有方便开始裁员。据《华尔街日报》（Wall Street Journal）称，该公司两个月之内裁掉了800多员工，大约占总员工的10%。之后美国有方借款11亿美元，以支付黑石集团及另一位合伙人的红利。华尔街日报称，黑石集团和该合伙人在短短7个月内就收回了投资。而与此同时，又有1500名员工被买断工龄。
美国国会议员桑德•莱文（Sander Levin）
黑石集团首次公开发行时强调了私募股权基金的纳税规则，但私募基金业对此并未表现出太多热情。私募股权基金的业绩提成一般要分掉公司20%的利润，但纳税额要远低于公司纳税标准。通过首次公开发行，施瓦茨曼赚取了价值7亿美元的股票，登上报纸头条，这很快引起了立法者的注意。密歇根州民主党议员桑德•莱文（Sander Levin）提出一项议案，要求把私募基金税率提高一倍多。至今为止，桑德•莱文的提案毫无进展，不过奥巴马总统已经把这项议案的内容纳入自己的2011年预算方案。
美国证券交易委员会（SEC）
去年秋天，证交会考虑取缔为私募股权基金从大投资商那里募资的中介人。这条法规主要是针对很多州的退休基金中出现的权钱交易丑闻。黑石集团成为众矢之的，因为该集团就雇佣“销售代理”帮助筹资。施瓦茨曼写了一封长达5页的信，公布在证交会的网站上，为中介人辩护，称黑石集团依靠这些第三方为自己的首支私募基金筹集了8.5亿美元。监管官员还没有做出最终决定。
黑石集团首席执行官
恐怕没人会忘记史蒂夫•施瓦茨曼为自己举办的60岁生日晚会。2007年2月，史蒂夫•施瓦茨曼斥资300万美元在曼哈顿公园大道军械库为自己举办生日晚会，这标志着新镀金时代的顶峰。罗德•斯图尔特（Rod Stewart）成为焦点。佩蒂•拉贝尔（Patti LaBelle）演唱生日快乐歌。如果有任何人质疑黑石集团老总对奢华场面的热爱，那么吃着龙虾和菲力牛排的500位嘉宾都知道答案。
亨利•克拉维斯（Henry Kravis）
收购大王、KKR（Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.）联合创始人亨利•克拉维斯是黑石的劲敌之一。在黑石上市以及施瓦茨曼精心准备的生日晚会之后，施瓦茨曼和克拉维斯之间的仇恨日增。据2007年《名利场》（Vanity Fair）杂志关于两人的资料介绍，克拉维斯对施瓦茨曼给私募基金业引来这么大的关注非常气愤。立法者很快纷纷提出新的征税提案。据这份资料显示，之后，克拉维斯冷落施瓦茨曼，缺席了以施瓦茨曼名义举行的纽约图书馆筹资活动，虽然材料中也提到一位发言人声称克拉维斯那晚不在纽约。
喜达屋酒店
去年四月，喜达屋（Starwood）起诉黑石旗下的希尔顿酒店（Hilton Hotels），并状告希尔顿酒店两名管理人员盗用保密方案，创建一个名为Denizen的新酒店品牌。据《泰晤士报》（The Times of London）去年报道，两名管理人员之后都离开了希尔顿，两人的律师均表示刑事调查不会找到诉讼证据。但一月份喜达屋更进一步，控告希尔顿首席执行官克里斯托弗•纳塞塔（Christopher Nassetta）知晓其管理人员拥有喜达屋的专有文件，但是诉讼并没有指明纳塞塔为被告。希尔顿否认在喜达屋的诉讼中负有责任。上个月，一份联邦法院文件表明起诉人正在对这桩所谓的欺诈案进行刑事诉讼调查。这宗间谍案仍悬而未决。
投资者
黑石集团于2007年6月上市，这个时间正好使得其管理人员发了大财，而其股价则一路狂跌。施瓦茨曼和公司联合创始人彼得•彼得森（Pete Peterson）一夜之间成为亿万富翁。但是，到2007年9月，黑石集团的股票价格已经从发行时每股31美元的定价跌到了22美元以下。总的来说，自上市以来，黑石的股票价值下跌了54%。