Word: locusts
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Foreign investment firms have incentives to improve, not destroy, the businesses they buy. Wincor Nixdorf is a case in point. The German firm, which makes ATMs for banks, was singled out by the SPD's Müntefering in his "locust" critique because of the profits that its investors, KKR and Goldman Sachs, made when they sold out. The two firms acquired Wincor Nixdorf from Siemens in 1999 for $709 million and by the beginning of the year had sold their entire stake, starting with a public offering in 2004. KKR and Goldman haven't disclosed details, but people familiar with...
Attack of the Locusts! Not long ago, going public was the hottest move a company could make. These days, it's going private. Private equity funds are soaring worldwide, particularly in Europe, where the value of buyouts rose by 23% last year to €80 billion, according to the U.K.-based Centre for Management Buy-Out Research, and seems likely to keep rising. Not everyone likes the trend; German officials have likened the firms to "locusts." But U.S. funds alone have trebled their investments in Europe over the past four years. Many of them are currently raising huge war chests...
...forgiven for not knowing that. Party officials led by chairman Franz Müntefering have delivered a ferocious critique of private investors that has dominated the campaign. In his most cited remarks, Müntefering compared private equity groups and short-term investors like hedge funds to "swarms of locusts" that fall on companies, devour all they can, and then move on. "Some financial investors don't waste any thoughts on the people whose jobs they destroy," he told a German newspaper. The fire and brimstone is part of the spd's effort to woo back voters disillusioned...
...plans to invade Iraq. Now, in the run-up to crucial elections in North Rhine-Westphalia later this month, his party has launched a new assault. This time the target is Anglo Saxon-style capitalism. Franz Müntefering, chairman of the Social Democrats (SPD), inveighed against "swarms of locusts that fall on companies, stripping them bare before moving on." The inspiration for this alarming imagery was identified last week when his headquarters leaked a "locust list" naming the alleged pests. These included U.S.-based investment firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Goldman Sachs and Blackstone as well as several German funds...
SPAMARAMA: AUSTIN, TX Rick "The Locust" LeFevre set a record this month, gobbling 6 lbs. of Spam in 12 min. His wife cheered him on in a Spam-hued outfit...