-Caveat Lector-
--- Forwarded message follows ---
Date sent: Sun, 12 May 2002 19:39:09 -0700
From: Joshua Tinnin [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject:[CIA-DRUGS] Fw: [Big-Medicine] Carlyle Group cashing in again
on IPO
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Not exactly a new article, but I do believe it's relevant considering the
current clash of ideas. Not only that, this is in ... CBS Marketwatch.
Although the link to the original article is dead, it is on
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.21C.Carlisle.Group.htm
- jt
- Original Message -
From: Joshua Tinnin [EMAIL PROTECTED]
from -
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?print=1guid=%7B2E2F45DA-05FC-4D34-
828B-03FB3A59F543%7D
Carlyle Group cashing in again on IPO
Commentary: U.S. Marine Repair is latest offering
By Steve Gelsi, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 1:17 AM ET March 17, 2002
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Conspiracy theories abound on the Internet. And the
involvement of the Carlyle Group in yet another military contractor IPO
should provide some good fodder, not to mention tales of insider deals that
rival the payoffs from the dot-com era.
Chaired by former Regean administration defense secretary Frank Carlucci,
The Carlyle Group - http://www.thecarlylegroup.com/ - is a $13 billion
private equity firm based just a few blocks away from the White House on
Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington.
Founded in 1987 by two executives hailing from MCI, Marriott and a corporate
merger attorney, it's attracted the most high-ranking officials in
Washington on their way out of jobs in the Oval Office or elsewhere in the
upper echelon of government.
Principals include former British Prime Minister John Major, former
secretary of state, James A. Baker III, not to mention former chairman of
the Securities and Exchange Commission, Arthur Levitt. Former President
George Bush holds the official title of senior advisor to the Carlyle Asia
Advisory Board and gives speeches at events.
Eyeing companies for investment, the Carlyle Group has taken part in several
IPOs over the years including VarsityBooks.com, orthodontic firm Align
Technology and high speed Internet firm NorthPoint Communications.
In October of 1997, The Carlyle Group purchased a majority stake in United
Defense Industries (UDI: news, chart, profile) in the midst of a slowdown in
U.S. military spending following the end of the Cold War.
After Sept. 11, President George W. Bush proposed huge increases in military
spending now pending before Congress.
The languishing defense sector has heated up and with it military-flavored
IPOs have surfaced from several players including Tuesday's Anteon
International (ANT: news, chart, profile), Integrated Defense Technologies
(IDE: news, chart, profile), ManTech International (MANT: news, chart,
profile) and upcoming information technology specialist Veridian.
The $400 million United Defense Industries IPO was the first to debut in the
latest salvo of weapons debutantes.
When the maker of military vehicles went public in December, Carlucci owned
40,000 shares at an average strike price of $4.71, according to the
company's IPO filings. The IPO debuted at $19 per share and has since risen
to more than $27 per share.
Carlucci is showing a tidy paper profit of $892,000 on his stake in United
Defense Industries - pretty respectable. Granted, there are lockup periods
governing when insiders can sell their shares, but in this time of post
dot-com meltdowns and a barren IPO landscape, it's amazing to see that such
big profits are still possible.
On Wednesday, Carlyle filed a $160 million IPO for U.S. Marine Repair, a
Norfolk, Va. specialist in maintaining and refurbishing Navy ships.
Although the IPO market may soon tire of all these military deals, this one
should do fairly well and provide another nice payday for The Carlyle Group.
With access to folks like Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Vice
President Dick Cheney, Carlyle seems to have the defense game rigged as one
of the biggest military contractors in the country.
Sure it's just good business to buy low and sell high, but the Carlyle Group
seems to be a bit too well connected.
The company practically evokes classic conspiracy theories about a shadow
government run by entities like the Rockefeller-founded Trilateral
Commission of the 1970s, or the bizarre gatherings of wealthy white men
dressed in robes at California's Bohemian Grove.
The tales continue with the annual Bilderberg conference or the World
Economic Forum at Davos -- events where the world's elite gather to ponder
the direction of Western Civilization.
While it's illegal for former government officials to lobby directly for
private firms, there's nothing on the books right now to keep ex-officials
from helping to raise money for investment ventures sponsored by companies
like the Carlyle Group.
The debate over apparent conflicts of interest will likely continue, but in
the
