Blackstone 44% owner of Leica

[Timmyjoe]

The Blackstone Group bought a 44% share of Leica this past year. I've heard a number of not so good things about that.

The latest is an article about the co-founder of Blackstone, in the Los Angeles Times, linked below:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hiltzik-20121003,0,376906.column

Folks can draw their own conclusions.

Best,
-Tim

 

[CaptZoom]

Hard to argue that he's not a powerful man, this Peter Peterson fella.

 

[maddoc]

He seems to pull the strings ...

 

[sam_m]

My conclusions: I wonder if the man is even aware he owns part of Leica, a company as small as Leica is, Blackstone being as big as it is, I doubt it is a high priority for him....? It does bode well though you would think, for Leica's fiscal health, they wouldn't be buying it up if it were in trouble? Who knows....!

 

[Tom Diaz]

My conclusions: I wonder if the man is even aware he owns part of Leica, a company as small as Leica is, Blackstone being as big as it is, I doubt it is a high priority for him....? It does bode well though you would think, for Leica's fiscal health, they wouldn't be buying it up if it were in trouble? Who knows....!

They don't say much about his firm's investments, and I haven't researched the specific firm. However, private equity firms often invest in companies that are in trouble. Sometimes their motive is to renovate the business (by changing it) and then reselling their interest at a profit. Leica must be an interesting study for them.

Tom

 

[palec]

It does bode well though you would think, for Leica's fiscal health, they wouldn't be buying it up if it were in trouble?

Obviously Blackstone is not putting money only in the money-making organisations. But at the end, it's about their profit.

 

[mfogiel]

I think that it really does not matter what political or religious preferences has an investor, who is making a legitimate deal to make a legitimate profit, and is helping Leica recover in the process. Would you prefer that Leica had a Chinese, Arab or North Korean investor?
This is pure nonsense.
As to his ideas, I think that as long as he is trying to influence a democratic debate, and not bribe anybody or organize a coup d'etat, he is simply exercising his constitutional rights. You americans don't even understand how lucky you are that you can read about all this in the news.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7P8mP5uuPw

 

[funkydog]

Would you prefer that Leica had a Chinese, Arab or North Korean investor?

You should add Monaco and Liechtenstein to the list. I hear the the leaders of those places are just as undemocratic, power hungry, high on nepotism, and money grubbing.

 

[KCG]

Truth or lies????

Truth or lies????

Is Peterson really as bad as the article portrays or is most of the article a figment of the presses imagination. It is too bad in America that the press and politicians cannot be held libel for spreading lies.

 

[rbelyell]

wow, lots of 'interesting' POVs here.
general comment: ive worked on the periphery of the finance industry for many years, and those who work in it do so for one reason, making money. they dony 'make' anything else, and are not interested in making anything else. moreover, those who've made it to the top, especially those who run hedge funds, are notorious control freaks with whatever type A personality traits are when taken to the Nth degree, so dont fool yourself into thinking he 'doesnt even know' about his co.'s position in leica. and they dont take such a substantial stake in a company without the notion that they want to influence the company's behavior going forward.

on americans being 'lucky' we can read about this stuff in the news, theres no 'luck' involved in it at all. as people showed recently in egypt, libya and now in syria, freedom is not 'bestowed' upon you by luck; its earned through bravery, sweat and blood. as americans we've given our share of each, with many times europeans reaping the benefits. many of our relatives are 'lucky' enough to be buried near monaco.

finally, the american press IS legally accountable for libel and slander. that is a fact, not an opinion.
tony

 

[emraphoto]

Well said. Interesting how most forget that stage of the US, and if I may, Canada recent history.

wow, lots of 'interesting' POVs here.
general comment: ive worked on the periphery of the finance industry for many years, and those who work in it do so for one reason, making money. they dony 'make' anything else, and are not interested in making anything else. moreover, those who've made it to the top, especially those who run hedge funds, are notorious control freaks with whatever type A personality traits are when taken to the Nth degree, so dont fool yourself into thinking he 'doesnt even know' about his co.'s position in leica.

on americans being 'lucky' we can read about this stuff in the news, theres no 'luck' involved in it at all. as people showed recently in egypt, libya and now in syria, freedom is not 'bestowed' upon you by luck; its earned through bravery, sweat and blood, and as americans we've given our share of each, with many times europeans being the beneficiary.

finally, the american press IS legally accountable for libel and slander. that is a fact, not an opinion.
tony

 

[sepiareverb]

Long article about Blackstone & Kaufmann in the 1/2012 issue of LFI.

 

[user237428934]

and those who work in it do so for one reason, making money

OMG. This is so shocking. Someone is working to make money.

 

[rbelyell]

tom thanks for quoting and commenting on one out of context sentence of a fifteen sentence post. it added a great deal to the discussion, and gave us a tremendous insight into your philosophy.

 

[Sparrow]

Can those who cannot vote in the US comment on these obscene capitalists controlling this means of production?

 

[user237428934]

tom thanks for quoting and commenting on one out of context sentence of a fifteen sentence post. it added a great deal to the discussion, and gave us a tremendous insight into your philosophy.

my pleasure

 

[redisburning]

Leica is a little bit different than an organization like say, K. B. Toys.

You don't go in to Leica and fire a bunch of people in the name of efficiency, cut everyone's benefits to improve the balance sheet then flip the company. The reason you can't do that is while you can find a bunch of teenagers willing to work at minimum wage in your store fronts selling crap they don't care about, if you fire a bunch of people with specialized knowledge about the manufacturing processes then you can't continue making stuff.

If anything, this guy probably wants to expand the company as income distributions shift more and more heavily towards the top. And that trend, I might add, is a demonstrable fact.

 

[user237428934]

There are examples of companies ruined because of the involvement of a financial investor and there are examples where investors took the steering wheel out of the hands of incompetent management and rescued jobs. Financial investors are not per se a bad thing.

Is Leica a healthy company where you ask why they sold shares to an investor or do they need help?

When a healthy company is ruined by financial investors who is to blame? The investor or the management who sold shares?

 

[mfogiel]

I am disillusioned: nobody said they were shattered for the death of Kim ...

 

[redisburning]

Financial investors are not per se a bad thing.

well, no. but they do have incentives to act as corporate raiders rather than do things properly.

it's like living with the honor system instead of police enforcement; it's all fine until someone decides to take advantage of the system for themselves and then very quickly so does everyone else.

a good real life example is people passing on the shoulder in traffic. as soon as someone does it and doesnt get caught all of a sudden it's like there is another lane or something.