Romney at Bain: Big gains, some busts

[Conservative]

Romney at Bain: Big gains, some busts
The Wall Street Journal

Even an article from WSJ that slants negatively shows a lot of bright spots for Romney and Bain...

Romney at Bain

Amid anecdotal evidence on both sides, the full record has largely escaped a close look, because so many transactions are involved. The Wall Street Journal, aiming for a comprehensive assessment, examined 77 businesses Bain invested in while Romney led the firm from its 1984 start until early 1999, to see how they fared during Bain's involvement and shortly afterward.

Among the findings: 22% either filed for bankruptcy reorganization or closed their doors by the end of the eighth year after Bain first invested, sometimes with substantial job losses. An additional 8% ran into so much trouble that all of the money Bain invested was lost.

So, 78% made it at least 8 years after Bain took over. Pretty good.

The numbers, however, also reflect Bain's investing style, which, particularly during the firm's early years, was focused on smaller and sometimes troubled companies that Bain hoped to fix or build.

Look there... someone that says Bain tried to fix or build up, not rape or break up. How interesting.

Bain was investing in "riskier deals," said Steven Kaplan, a finance professor at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. "For every one that went bankrupt, they had one that was a screaming success. The overall effect was terrific performance" for the firm's investors.

I'd take this guys opinion of Shitting Bulls any day

Some of the companies that ran into trouble did so after Bain was no longer involved and new owners had taken charge.

How much you want to bet partisan douchenozzles like Shitting Bull don't take this into account.

The Journal chose to look at target companies' fates by the end of the eighth year after Bain's initial investment, which appears close to the maximum time that Bain remained in control of any of its targets. Academic research has shown that buyout firms during this era exited their deals on average after 5½ years, but in a large percentage of cases were still involved beyond seven years.

Interesting. Bain stayed as long or longer than average in firms it bought. Doesn't sound like the actions of a company just there to rape and sell.

A potentially mitigating factor, he added, is that these bankruptcy filings tended to be clustered during the post-2000 economic downturn.

Yeah, it was completely Romney's fault. Thee economy had nothing to do with it...

 

[Pheonixops]

I think that the whole Bain attack thing is stupid.

 

[RightWingFerret]

and what %%% of Obama's Solar Panel Companies have been succsessful and created thousands and thousands of jobs in the last 3 years?

 

[Truthseeker420]

I think that the whole Bain attack thing is stupid.

I agree, it's about as stupid as saying Bain exprience would make someone better at running an economy.

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

Like any business you have ups and downs. Now the govt on the other hand.......mostly downs.

 

[Mr. H.]

There's the shit, and there's the bullshit.
Conservatives know their shit, Liberals don't know shit- but eat up bullshit.

But when it's all said and done, everybody's shit stinks.

 

[RightWingFerret]

what did the liberals expect? 100% succsess? as if Obama has 100% succsess in the economic recovery?

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

what did the liberals expect? 100% succsess? as if Obama has 100% succsess in the economic recovery?

Obama has 100% success at wasting our taxes.

 

[RightWingFerret]

Obama has 100% succsess at lying about everything. especially the end of the recession in 2009.

 

[frazzledgear]

I think that the whole Bain attack thing is stupid.

It isn't stupid -it is an anti-free market attack and reveals just how strongly Obama despises it. Leftists think even though government is often wrong and even though it provably wastes massive amounts of money - it is preferable to allowing that kind of power to exist in the free market even though money is provably used more effectively and efficiently than it ever is by government. THAT is how arrogant they are and that is how much they seek to entrench power in their own hands. Any shift in power to government can ONLY come by stripping it from we the people -unlike wealth, power is finite and for government to claim more power can only happen at our expense.

Obama is attacking Bain's record -even though it has greater than a 70% success rate. Let's compare that to his own dismal record at trying to pick winners and losers and the fact he had less than a 20% success rate. Which is what happens when someone with zero experience in the real world thinks getting elected means he can do anyone's job better than those with a lifetime of doing it. But the biggest difference is -Romney was using HIS OWN MONEY FOR IT while Obama was using MINE!

A lot of people don't understand exactly what Bain does -but that ad regarding GST is full of shit and that whiny SOB asshole claiming Bain was a vampire is lying through his teeth. Truly a misleading and despicable POS political ad.

GST in Kansas City was going under, hadn't shown a profit in more than five years, the parent company which had lost hundreds of millions of dollars during that time was already making plans to close it up and sell it off for parts if they couldn't find a buyer for it. GST employed more than 4,500 until the 90s and in the last few years prior to Bain stepping in, GST had been forced to reduce its work force to just 750. IT WAS DYING. The entire US steel industry was struggling to compete with cheaper, foreign steel. The claim that GST was a SUCCESSFUL company before Bain stepped in is total bullshit -GST and its parent company Armco were losing hundreds of millions every year. Aside from the fact the US steel industry was struggling all over the country at that point, Bain looks for companies that are in trouble but not yet believed to be in fatal trouble, tries to turn them around and make them profitable -which then makes THEM money! The idea of pouring millions of their own dollars into a company that is being driven into bankruptcy is a pretty stupid business plan! (In fact, that sounds exactly like what Obama did with Solyndra which was already believed to be fatally failing! And was. What liberals don't get is if a company can't get private investment -it's because the experts have already decided it's a BAD INVESTMENT and far too risky for THEIR money! The notion that means taxpayers must be put on the hook for it at that point is so obscene I think people should be sent to prison for such a decision! Seriously. If a business can't attract private money, then DON'T USE MINE!)

Bain Capital stepped in and gave GST another 7 years to try and turn things around -additional time its own parent company refused to give it, convinced that once divorced from the larger losses of its parent company Armco, it could turn around. The left is claiming Bain made all its investment back and then some but that is a lie. Bain poured more than $100,000,000 of their own money into it over the next seven years trying to make GST profitable and save it when its parent company had already washed its hands of it. Bain lost millions on GST by the time it finally went under but its employees got another 7 years of employment out of it they would not have had without Bain. I have three people in my extended family who worked at GST both in the union and in management and to a one they agree Bain gave them a fair shot but they were just never able to even come close to turning it around.

 

[rdean]

Making money is different than creating jobs. Did that have to be explained? You guys talk like Bain is going around looking for companies to save. You know, if you guys believed in education, it might help. If it "took" that is.

 

[candycorn]

Romney at Bain: Big gains, some busts
The Wall Street Journal

Even an article from WSJ that slants negatively shows a lot of bright spots for Romney and Bain...

Romney at Bain

Amid anecdotal evidence on both sides, the full record has largely escaped a close look, because so many transactions are involved. The Wall Street Journal, aiming for a comprehensive assessment, examined 77 businesses Bain invested in while Romney led the firm from its 1984 start until early 1999, to see how they fared during Bain's involvement and shortly afterward.

Among the findings: 22% either filed for bankruptcy reorganization or closed their doors by the end of the eighth year after Bain first invested, sometimes with substantial job losses. An additional 8% ran into so much trouble that all of the money Bain invested was lost.

So, 78% made it at least 8 years after Bain took over. Pretty good.

How many would have "made it" if they hadn't been there? We don't know.

What happens when Bain takes over was explained by Planet Money a few weeks ago. Basically they instantly take on more debt to pay themselves back for buying controlling interest and then attempt to rehab the company.

What of course isn't understood or, much less, admitted is that the situation for Bain is always "heads they win, tails they don't lose". I would imagine most venture capitalists worth that way.

If you were to look into the Duncan Donuts balance sheet you would see what Bain Does. I hope they "make it" but their debt looks insurmountable. Maybe not. They did start selling their coffee in super markets which was a good move. This may be a Bain save.

 

[buckeye45_73]

Making money is different than creating jobs. Did that have to be explained? You guys talk like Bain is going around looking for companies to save. You know, if you guys believed in education, it might help. If it "took" that is.

Dean can you be more stupid? Companies aren't made to create jobs, that is a side effect of them making money (ie profit, that thing liberals claim to hate, but then I then I look and see all these liberals living in luxury and like Pink Floyd says Money, they aint giving none of it away.) So let a business make money and the jobs will come. It's one of the few guarantees in life

Education? Uh you're the guy that supports grade promotion (ie we cant hold all these kids back in public schools and especially minorities so we'll move them ahead anyway), Teacher unions (hmmmmm overpaid democratic propagandists). Liberals dont support charter schools or vouchers, because the bad schools might close....SO WHAT?? They suck, they're supposed to close or get better. Watch Lean on me, sometimes liberals do harm with their no discipline (cant have that paddle in school, cant kick out incorrigable students) So stop with the education thing. The only thing liberals are interested in education our kids is adult issues to put more liberal white guilt in them like Global Warming, Sex ED (and of course to teach homosexuality is perfectly normal), that's not education, that's indoctrination. How about teaching math, science, reading, history (REAL history, not politically correct crap), civics, geography, you know important stuff.

 

[Sallow]

Making money is different than creating jobs. Did that have to be explained? You guys talk like Bain is going around looking for companies to save. You know, if you guys believed in education, it might help. If it "took" that is.

It's hard for the Conservative Brain.

Profit != Public good.

 

[rdean]

Making money is different than creating jobs. Did that have to be explained? You guys talk like Bain is going around looking for companies to save. You know, if you guys believed in education, it might help. If it "took" that is.

It's hard for the Conservative Brain.

Profit != Public good.

Profit is good for the super rich. For the middle class? Not so much.

 

[Sallow]

Making money is different than creating jobs. Did that have to be explained? You guys talk like Bain is going around looking for companies to save. You know, if you guys believed in education, it might help. If it "took" that is.

It's hard for the Conservative Brain.

Profit != Public good.

Profit is good for the super rich. For the middle class? Not so much.

Profit is good when there is fair equity among those responsible for it.

But conservatives do not believe in that. Pirates were better at splitting profits then most conservatives.

 

[buckeye45_73]

Making money is different than creating jobs. Did that have to be explained? You guys talk like Bain is going around looking for companies to save. You know, if you guys believed in education, it might help. If it "took" that is.

It's hard for the Conservative Brain.

Profit != Public good.

Profit is good for the super rich. For the middle class? Not so much.

I dont care what Bain does, what's funny is tons of democrats like Bain, all those great socialists.
Profit != Public good? So I have a question, lets play are you a hypocrite? Now do you give all your money away? Do you buy wants or do you just keep it to needs?
Wow if you think profit is bad, I guess you hate employed people. You must think we should all live in the projects and use government assistance, or are you one of those liberals that's "allowed" to be rich?
And rdean you're right only the super rich get profits, small business that grow into medium and large buisnesses dont get profit, and if you belive that monkeys are flying out of your ass.
If they dont get profit, how do they stay in business? And again show me a company with no profit that creates jobs, I cant wait to see this.

 

[Sallow]

It's hard for the Conservative Brain.

Profit != Public good.

Profit is good for the super rich. For the middle class? Not so much.

I dont care what Bain does, what's funny is tons of democrats like Bain, all those great socialists.
Profit != Public good? So I have a question, lets play are you a hypocrite? Now do you give all your money away? Do you buy wants or do you just keep it to needs?
Wow if you think profit is bad, I guess you hate employed people. You must think we should all live in the projects and use government assistance, or are you one of those liberals that's "allowed" to be rich?
And rdean you're right only the super rich get profits, small business that grow into medium and large buisnesses dont get profit, and if you belive that monkeys are flying out of your ass.
If they dont get profit, how do they stay in business? And again show me a company with no profit that creates jobs, I cant wait to see this.

This is gonna screw up your conservative brain.

But it was private companies that called in government to protect them from people that were organizing unions.

 

[editec]

Romney did nothing wrong as it relates to BAIN.

Just business as ususal.

But telling people that what Bain did was JOB creation is a bit of an overstatement.

 

[Decus]

Making money is different than creating jobs. Did that have to be explained? You guys talk like Bain is going around looking for companies to save. You know, if you guys believed in education, it might help. If it "took" that is.

It's hard for the Conservative Brain.

Profit != Public good.

Profit is good for the super rich. For the middle class? Not so much.

The two major tracks in recent economic history have been something resembling a free market approach versus varying degrees of a state controlled economy. Having lived under both in different countries, it is clear that the even the poorest but more independent-minded prefer free market. According to scientific research, everything in excess can be bad for you. In fact you might want to put down that last doughnut.