If Goldman is the “vampire squid”, what the hell is Bain? The slimy Lamprey that seeks and destroys by sucking out the life of it’s victims? They’re in on both Toys r Us and Clearchannel.
Anybody remember the play and movie “Other people’s money”? All it takes to be targeted is low debt load. Run your business well and have no debt? Watch out!!
iHeartRadio going bankrupt? Look on the bright side, there isn’t anyone to lay off.
Yes, but in order for the acquired company to “buy back” the loan, they have to get money/credit from elsewhere, which implies that some lender is dumb enough to say “oh yeah sure that’s totally trustworthy and probably a great idea, and we can absolutely trust you to pay back these loans for 20-50 years even though companies you acquire tend to have the lifespan of a past-sell-date banana”.
Just came here to say one word: “Mitt Romney.” (Oops)
Because there is enough money in it to make it attractive for the upperworld mob.
Oh, I beg to differ. At least a few actors will be losing their jobs. From the iHeartMedia Wikipedia page:
"iHeartMedia, through its subsidiary, Premiere Radio Networks, auditions and hires actors to call in to talk radio shows and pose as listeners in order to provide shows, carried by iHeartMedia and other broadcasters, with planned content in the form of stories and opinions. The custom caller service provided by Premiere Radio assures its clients they won't hear the same actor's voice for at least two months in order to appear authentic to listeners who might otherwise catch on."
Bain Capital, you say?
Lol! Welp, I learned something new.
I always figured the callers were on the payroll of a 539 type organization. I didn’t realize they were employed by the station directly.
What did you expect? Private equity is about “extracting value”? That’s liquidating, destroying the asset for a maximal amount of cash. This is no different from what happened to Toys R Us. Buy it out. Load up the books with debt. Pay off the investors. Go into bankruptcy. Atillia the Hun used to do this to kingdoms and empires. It pays well.
I think I’m confused. I’m reading that to mean:
But how do they actually recoup that $10B? Was the original $10B borrowed and by assigning it to the purchased company they allow that company to welch on it? That assumes the lender would allow such an assignation which would be rather unlikely I think? Or is it some securitization shell-game where unwary investors buy into a pool of such crap unawares?
I hope so! 2 years ago, WPFW was financially on the ropes. They’re still here, so something must’ve turned around for them, but presumably good news doesn’t hit the headlines as much as bad.
At least the people who been working at those radio stations can apply to work for Toys R Us
Except… They’re so obviously actors and it’s so obviously scripted…
I change the station the instant I hear any of that. Anyone who can’t catch on wasn’t listening in the first place.
Too late. Sinclair is getting them all at fire-sale prices (discounted because they get all of them.)
Yup. My last [1] employer had cash reserves close to their market cap. As people pointed out, this was like blood in the water; they responded [2] by going on an acquisition binge. Market cap now is a lot higher and the cash reserves are closer to reasonable. I’m not complaining – my stock in them ballooned right along; they’re not, best I can tell, doing anything particularly stupid.
[1] As in, “won’t be another”
[2] IMHO several years late, but better late etc.
I guess that the folks giving them the loans are taking their bonuses and running before it all implodes.
And I guess that’s what I’m most curious about - are rich people or not-rich people the ones getting fleeced here? If Bain is siphoning money from my retirement plan, I want them up on a crucifix pronto. If they’re just suckering wealth management funds, then IDGAF.
don’t bet on it. the FCC is now controlled by a corporate puppet who i’m sure will maintain the one percetn interests.
The short answer is, another word for neoliberalism is Reaganomics. Reagan’s supply-side economic policy has been kept intact by every presidential administration since.
Neoliberalism used to refer to FDR’s economic reforms, aka the New Deal, that added social programs to cover the shortfalls of free market capitalism that brought about the Great Depression. It worked so well, that the moniker was dropped sometime in the 1960s or so. The shift in the 1980s to undo FDR’s reforms was also called neoliberalism, only this time it aims to wean the country off social programs and return to a system of pure capitalism with all the social ills that entails.
