text:
WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- President Obama called Republican criticism of his U.N. ambassador "outrageous" Wednesday, saying if anyone wants to "go after" someone, he's available.
Obama zeroed in on Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who said U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice's statements about the Sept. 11 deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, should disqualify her from consideration as a potential secretary of state. U.S. ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans died in the attack.
"She made an appearance at the request of the White House in which she gave her best understanding of the intelligence that had been provided to her," Obama said. "If Sen. McCain and Sen. Graham and others want to go after somebody, they should go after me. And I'd be happy to have that discussion with them.
"But for them to go after the U.N. ambassador who had nothing to do with Benghazi? And was simply making a presentation based on intelligence that she had received?" Obama said. "And to besmirch her reputation is outrageous."
Obama said he didn't think it was debatable that "that when you have four Americans killed, that's a problem. And we've got to get to the bottom of it and there needs to be accountability. We've got to bring those who carried it out to justice."
"But when they go after the U.N. ambassador, apparently because they think she's an easy target, then they've got a problem with me," he said.
Obama said he would nominate Rice "if I think that she would be the best person" to succeed Hillary Clinton when she steps down as secretary of state as she said she would.
However, he said, "that's not a determination that I've made yet."
"Mr. President, don't think for one minute I don't hold you ultimately responsible for Benghazi," Graham said in a statement. "I think you failed as commander in chief before, during, and after the attack."
Graham said the American people and the victims of the attack were owed "full, fair hearings and accountability be assigned where appropriate."
"Given what I know now, I have no intention of promoting anyone who is up to their eyeballs in the Benghazi debacle," he said.
McCain expressed similar sentiments in a statement, saying comments Obama and others made at various times soon after the Sept. 11 attack were contradictory.
"Those statements clearly did not comport with the facts on the ground," McCain said in a statement. "We owe the American people and the families of the murdered Americans a full and complete explanation .... ."
CSPAN reported Graham, McCain and Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., announced Wednesday they would introduce a resolution to form a temporary Select Committee to look into the timeline and what happened in the Benghazi attack.


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What's New?
Check out what's new in the latest SUNDIALS version, and see our release history.
How do you use SUNDIALS?
We appreciate hearing about uses of SUNDIALS. If you've used SUNDIALS, drop us a line and let us know. Feel free to send information and/or citations to publications for our list.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Availability: Out of stock
Regular Price:
Special Price
This winter skirt for kids by ZAND Amsterdam is made of wool providing you with extra warmth in the colder months. The inside has a colorful cotton print. The corduroy skirt can be nicely combined with beautiful tights.
This cute wrapskirt can be worn inside out AND the upper band can be unzipped from the lower band and rezipped in reverse; In other words:
you are able to make four different skirts.


text:
Fill in a Spreadsheet with Data
Presupuesto $30-250 USD
looking for someone to collect and enter data to spreadsheet for an advertisement survey project.
28 freelancers están ofertando el promedio de $121 para este trabajo
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I know Excel very well. I work in a school and teach pupils Excel more than ten years. I hold professional courses in Excel for a private school.


text:
It delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 4.11% in the past four quarters and has an expected earnings growth rate of 40.10%. It has a Zacks Rank #2 and a Growth Score of A.Magna International Inc. (MGA)
Canada-based Magna International Inc. (NYSE:) is an independent supplier of original equipment components, assemblies, modules and systems and related tooling for cars and light trucks.Magna International Inc.
It has seen positive earnings estimate revision of 7 cents for this year over the past one month and has an expected earnings growth rate of 18.46%. The stock has a Zacks Rank #2 and a Growth Score of A.Anthem Inc. (ANTM)
Indiana-based Anthem Inc. (NYSE:) operates as a health benefits company in the United States. The stock has seen positive earnings estimate revision of a penny over the past 30 days for this year and has an expected earnings growth rate of 27.82%.
The stock has a Zacks Rank #2 and a Growth Score of A.
Ohio-based Progressive Corp (NYSE:) provides personal and commercial auto insurance, residential property insurance, and other specialty property-casualty insurance and related services primarily in the United States.
The company has seen positive earnings estimate revision of a 19 cents over the past 30 days for this year and has an expected earnings growth rate of 59.32%. It has a Zacks Rank #2 and a Growth Score of A.
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Last Updated June 1, 2015 (This post may contain affiliate links.)
You can make good money selling hand made jewelry . But jewelry making is not a cheap hobby or a cost effective business venture, not if you do not know how to access the right suppliers.
When we shop around craft stores, it seems that their stocks appear all the same from no more than a handful of mass producers, making it extremely difficult to pick up the outstanding pieces, let alone finding the decently priced stuff.
But the proliferation of internet has certainly brought down the price barrier and make wider choice available to the masses.
Some of the most sought after suppliers in the art of jewelry making are:
For beginners hoping that beads could bankroll their business, this is the first place to get started.
The variety on offer here is great and with each costing just $1, there is a lot of room for learning and experimenting with beads.
All shipments are charged a reasonable $5 flat and shipping time takes no more than days.
On average, I would usually get my shipment only 3 days from order! The packaging is no fuss with only simple strings holding the beads together.
This site works especially well if you have had your fair share of designer beads, and only looking for filler beads.
The range here could blow your mind, from seed beads to semi-precious gemstone beads, shell beads to glass beads, acrylic beads, pearls, plastic beads, and lots more.
I personally would think that every individual strand is worth more than its $1 price tag , sure I am happy for the price to stay that way! There will be times the site introduces new products, and again every new strand on sale is priced at a remarkable $1 pricing.
If you are looking for specific designs rather than the generic pattern beads, eBay could be a better place. Because of the huge collection at eBay, you need to key in specific search terms to find what your look for.
Keep up to date with all our latest news and events by entering your details below and signing up to our newsletter.Sign up
For all general enquiries, please contact the UK office:The Gaia Foundation 6 Heathgate Place London NW3 2NU
Tel: (+44) 207 428 0055
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© Copyright Gaia Foundation 2018 Reg. Charity No. 0327412. The Gaia Foundation, 6 Heathgate Place, Agincourt Road, London, NW3 2NU


text:
They have Rooney, Hernandez, Wellbeck and some Dutch fella. You would have thought that the last thing that Man United needed in the summer was a striker. However during the winter transfer window there were plenty of rumours that United had already done a deal to sign Robert Lewandowski from Borussia Dortmund.
The story is back in the news again this week with differing reports from Germany about where the player's future will be.
On Saturday German legend Lothar Matthaus claimed that the deal had already been done to sell the player to Bayern Munich
As ESPN reports Mattheus told Sky the only question remaining was whether the Poland international, who has also been strongly linked with a move to Old Trafford, joined the champions-elect in the summer or when his deal expires in 2014.
"I have heard that Lewandowski and his management have already reached an agreement with Bayern," Matthaus said.
"His contract runs out in 2014. Dortmund could cash in on him in 2013. They would get a high fee – I have overheard something like €25 million to €30 million – or he could join Bayern on a free in 2014."
However Bayern President Uli Hoeness has a different view,
He told German paper Abendzeitung: "If Lothar confirms this, then soon he will be the general manager at Bayern."
Matthaus then struck back telling Sky
"Uli Hoeness also knows I have been in the business for 30 years now. I have good contacts, not only domestically but also internationally. A reliable source – one who would know – told me that Lewandowski will join Bayern. If you have such information – and in this case I am no coach, but a pundit – I have the duty to pass this information on. If I am wrong, I will apologise to Uli Hoeness."
In case you have forgotten German newspaper Bild claimed that Borussia Dortmund star Robert Lewandowski would join Manchester United this summer.
Bild said that a €22million bid will be enough to land the 24-year-old, and he will pick up £100,000 a week at Old Trafford.
This one could get interesting.


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Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
|Traded as
Financial services:
private equity
investment banking
Henry Kravis
George R. Roberts
Jerome Kohlberg, Jr.
9 West 57th Street
Suite 4200
New York City, New York 10019
United States
Number of locations
|13 offices in 9 countries[1]
Key people
Henry R. Kravis
George R. Roberts
Management buyouts
Leveraged finance
Venture capital
Growth capital
|US$ 8.896 billion (2013)
|US$ 691.2 million (2013)
|US$ 98.0 billion (2012)
|Total assets
|US$ 71 billion (2015)
Number of employees
|826 (2011)[2]
KKR & Co. L.P. (formerly known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.) is an American multinational private equity firm, specializing in leveraged buyouts, headquartered in New York City. The firm sponsors and manages private equity investment funds. A pioneer in the leveraged buyout industry, the firm has completed over $400 billion of private equity transactions since its inception.[2][3]
The firm was founded in 1976 by Jerome Kohlberg, Jr., and cousins Henry Kravis and George R. Roberts, all of whom had previously worked together at Bear Stearns, where they completed some of the earliest leveraged buyout transactions. Since its founding, KKR has completed a number of landmark transactions including the 1989 leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco, which was the largest buyout in history to that point, as well as the 2007 buyout of TXU, which is currently the largest buyout completed to date.[4][5] KKR has completed investments in over 160 companies since 1977, completing at least one investment in every year except in 1982 and in 1990.[6]
KKR has 13 additional offices in the United States, Europe and Asia.[1] The firm is currently located in the Solow Building (9 W. 57th Street), but recently announced its intentions to occupy a newly constructed 30 Hudson Yards.[7]
In October 2009, KKR listed shares in the company through KKR & Co., an affiliate that holds 30% of the firm's ownership equity, with the remainder held by the firm's partners. In March 2010, KKR filed to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE),[8] with trading commencing four months later, on July 15, 2010.
The Firm KKR
KKR is operated by its managing partners Henry Kravis and George R. Roberts and a team of approximately 140 investment professionals and 400 total employees, organized into industry-focused groups.[2] KKR is headquartered in the Solow Building at 9 West 57th Street, Manhattan, New York, with U.S. offices in Menlo Park, San Francisco, Houston, and Washington, D.C., and offices abroad in London, Paris, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing, Mumbai, Dubai, Seoul, São Paulo and Sydney.[1]
KKR invests primarily through leveraged buyouts as well as growth capital investments (including "PIPE" investments in public companies). It has traditionally specialized in private equity investments, focusing on specific industry sectors where the firm has created nine dedicated investment groups. The industries in which KKR has developed a specialization include:[9]
- Chemicals
- Consumer products
- Energy & natural resources
- Financial services
- Health care
- Industrial
- Media and communications
- Retail
- Technology
The professionals in each of KKR's industry-focused groups are expected to have developed a proficiency in their respective industries.[9] The firm has traditionally had strong ties with its investors.[10]
Investment funds and other affiliates
Private equity funds
KKR has historically relied primarily on private equity funds, pools of committed capital that are raised from a broad array of institutional investors (e.g., pension funds, insurance companies, investment banks, commercial banks, endowments, fund of funds, high-net-worth individuals, sovereign wealth funds).[2][11] As of March 31, 2014, KKR had completed fund-raising for approximately 23 traditional investment funds in the US, Europe and Asia with total committed capital of approximately US$80 billion:
| Vintage
| Committed
Capital ($m)
|KKR Fund 1976
|KKR Fund 1980
|KKR Fund 1982
|KKR Fund 1984
|KKR Fund 1986
|KKR Fund 1987
|KKR Fund 1993
|KKR Fund 1996
|KKR European Fund
|KKR Millennium Fund
|KKR European Fund II
|KKR Fund 2006
|KKR Asian Fund
|KKR European Fund III
|KKR E2 Investors (Annex Fund)
|KKR China Growth Fund
|KKR Natural Resources Fund
|KKR Infrastructure Fund
|KKR North America Fund XI
|KKR Asian Fund II
|KKR Real Estate Partners Americas
|KKR Energy Income and Growth Fund
Source: SEC Filings[12]
KKR Financial
|Public company (NYSE: KFN)
KKR Financial (NYSE: KFN) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) and specialty finance company that invests in residential and commercial mortgage loans and mortgage-backed securities as well as corporate loans and debt securities, asset-backed securities and equity securities. KFN was founded in 2004 raising $795 million in a private placement and raised $849 million in a June 2005 initial public offering, increasing the size of the offering from an original $600 million target.[13] KKR had initially considered structuring KFN as a business development company like Apollo Management's Apollo Investment Corporation but chose to pursue the REIT structure to capitalize on the strength in REIT valuations at the time.[13]
KFN was an early casualty of the subprime mortgage crisis and in September 2007, Henry Kravis and George Roberts injected $270 million into the company. On February 20, 2008, KFN was once again forced to delay the repayment of billions of dollars of commercial paper, and began a new round of talks with creditors.[14] In April, KFN sold a controlling interest in a real estate subsidiary to an investment firm to raise cash and entered an agreement with the noteholders of certain secured commercial paper issued by two asset-backed entities. Following the transaction, KFN converted from a REIT to a LLC.[15]
KKR Private Equity Investors
|Public company (Euronext: KPE)
KKR Private Equity Investors (Euronext: KPE) is a publicly traded private equity fund that invests as a fund of funds in KKR private equity funds. KPE also co-invests in transactions alongside KKR's private equity funds. KPE was founded in 2006. In May 2006, KKR raised $5 billion in an initial public offering for a KPE to serve as a new permanent investment vehicle listing it on the Euronext exchange in Amsterdam. KKR raised three times more than it expected, as many of the investors in KPE were hedge funds seeking exposure to private equity but could not make long term commitments to private equity funds. As private equity had been booming in preceding years, investing in a KKR fund was attractive to investors.[16]
However, KPE's first-day performance was lackluster, trading down 1.7% and trading volume was limited.[17] Initially, a handful of other private equity firms and hedge funds had planned to follow KKR's lead but shelved those plans when KPE's performance continued to falter after its IPO. KPE's stock declined from an IPO price of €25 per share to €18.16 (a 27% decline) at the end of 2007 and a low of €11.45 (a 54.2% decline) per share in Q1 2008.[18]
KPE disclosed in May 2008 that it had completed approximately $300 million of secondary sales of selected limited partnership interests in, and undrawn commitments to, certain KKR-managed funds in order to generate liquidity and repay borrowings.[19]
In October 2009 KPE changed its name to KKR & Co. (Guernsey) L.P.,[20] which was delisted from Euronext Amsterdam in July 2010 while common units of KKR & Co. L.P. began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "KKR".[21]
|History of private equity
and venture capital
|Early history
|(Origins of modern private equity)
|The 1980s
|(Leveraged buyout boom)
|The 1990s
|(Leveraged buyout and the venture capital bubble)
|The 2000s
|(Dot-com bubble to the credit crunch)
Founding and early history
Running the corporate finance department for Bear Stearns in the 1960s and 1970s, Jerome Kohlberg and later with protégés Henry Kravis and George Roberts completed a series of what they described as "bootstrap" investments beginning in 1964–65. They targeted family-owned businesses, many of which had been founded in the years following World War II which by the 1960s and 1970s were facing succession issues. Many of these companies lacked a viable or attractive exit for their founders as they were too small to be taken public and the founders were reluctant to sell out to competitors and so a sale to a financial buyer could prove attractive.[3]
Their acquisition of Orkin Exterminating Company in 1964 is among the first significant leveraged buyout transactions. In the following years the three Bear Stearns bankers would complete a series of buyouts including Stern Metals (1965), Incom (a division of Rockwood International, 1971), Cobblers Industries (1971), and Boren Clay (1973), as well as Thompson Wire, Eagle Motors and Barrows through their investment in Stern Metals. Despite a number of highly successful investments, the $27 million investment in Cobblers ended in bankruptcy.[22]
By 1976, tensions had built up between Bear Stearns and Kohlberg, Kravis and Roberts, which led to the formation of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. in that year. Most notably, Bear Stearns executive Cy Lewis had rejected repeated proposals to form a dedicated investment fund within Bear Stearns and Lewis took exception to the amount of time spent on outside activities. In 1976, Kravis had been required to serve as interim CEO of a failing direct mail company named Advo.
The new KKR completed its first buyout, that of manufacturer A.J. Industries, in 1977. KKR raised capital from a small group of investors including the Hillman Company and First Chicago Bank. By 1978, with the revision of the ERISA regulations, the nascent KKR was successful in raising its first institutional fund with over $30 million of investor commitments.[23] In 1981, KKR expanded its investor base significantly when the Oregon State Treasury's public pension fund invested in KKR's acquisition of retailer Fred Meyer, Inc. Oregon State remains an active investor in KKR funds.[3]
KKR closed out the 1970s completing the public-to-private buyout of Houdaille Industries in 1979,[24] probably the largest take-private of a public company to that point. As the 1980s began, KKR was among the most prominent practitioner of leveraged buyouts and would prove the most prolific of the private equity investors in the 1980s.[3] Among the firm's most notable acquisitions during the 1980s buyout boom were the following:
|Company Description
|Malone & Hyde
|KKR completed the first buyout of a public company by tender offer, by acquiring the food distributor and supermarket operator together with the company's chairman Joseph R. Hyde III.
|Wometco Enterprises
|KKR completed the first billion-dollar buyout transaction to acquire the leisure-time company with interests in television, movie theaters and tourist attractions. The buyout comprised the acquisition of 100% of the outstanding shares for $842 million and the assumption of $170 million of the company's outstanding debt.
|Beatrice Companies
|KKR sponsored the $6.1 billion management buyout of Beatrice, which owned Samsonite and Tropicana among other consumer brands. At the time of its closing in 1985, Beatrice was the largest buyout completed.
|KKR completed a friendly $5.5 billion buyout of Safeway to help management avoid hostile overtures from Herbert and Robert Haft of Dart Drug. Safeway was taken public again in 1990.
| Jim Walter Corp.
(later Walter Industries)
|KKR acquired the company for $3.3 billion in early 1988 but faced issues with the buyout almost immediately. Most notably, a subsidiary of Jim Walter Corp (Celotex) faced a large asbestos lawsuit and incurred liabilities that the courts ruled would need to be satisfied by the parent company. In 1989, the holding company which KKR used for the Jim Walter buyout filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Barbarians at the Gate – KKR's leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco
After the 1987 resignation of Jerome Kohlberg at age 61 (he later founded his own private equity firm, Kohlberg & Co.), Henry Kravis succeeded him as senior partner. Under Kravis and Roberts, the firm was responsible for the 1988 leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco. RJR Nabisco proved to be not only the largest buyout in history to that time, at $25 billion ($31.1 billion, including assumed debt) as well as a high-water mark and sign of the end of the 1980s buyout boom. RJR—Nabisco, which would remain the largest buyout for the next 17 years, was chronicled in Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco, and later made into a television movie starring James Garner.[32]
In 1988, F. Ross Johnson was the President and CEO of RJR Nabisco, formed in 1985 by the merger of Nabisco Brands and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, a leading producer of food products (Shredded Wheat, Oreo cookies, Ritz crackers, Planters peanuts, Life Savers, Del Monte Fruit and Vegetables, and Snickers Chocolate) as well as Winston, Camel and Salem cigarettes. In October 1988, Johnson proposed a $17 billion ($75 per share) management buyout of the company with the financial backing of investment bank Shearson Lehman Hutton and its parent company, American Express.[33][34]
Several days later, Kravis, who had originally suggested the idea of the buyout to Johnson, presented a new bid for $20.3 billion ($90 per share) financed with an aggressive debt package.[35][36][37] KKR had the support of significant equity co-investments from leading pension funds and other institutional investors. Investors included Coca-Cola, Georgia-Pacific and United Technologies corporate pension funds, as well as endowments from MIT, Harvard and the New York State Common Retirement Fund[11] However, KKR faced criticism from existing investors over the firm's use of hostile tactics in the buyout of RJR.[38]
KKR proposed to provide a joint offer with Johnson and Shearson Lehman but was rebuffed and Johnson attempted to stonewall KKR's access to financial information from RJR.[39][40][41][42] Rival private equity firm, Forstmann Little & Co. was invited into the process by Shearson Lehman but attempted to provide a bid for RJR with a consortium of Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Procter & Gamble, Ralston Purina and Castle & Cooke.[43]
Ultimately the Forstmann consortium came apart and did not provide a final bid for RJR.[44] Many of the major banking players of the day, including Shearson Lehman Hutton, Drexel Burnham Lambert, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Salomon Brothers and Merrill Lynch were actively involved in advising and financing the parties.
In November 1988, RJR set guidelines for a final bid submission at the end of the month.[45] The management and Shearson group submitted a final bid of $112, a figure they felt certain would enable them to outflank any response by Kravis and KKR. KKR's final bid of $109, while a lower dollar figure, was ultimately accepted by the board of directors of RJR Nabisco.[46] KKR's offer was guaranteed, whereas the management offer lacked a "reset", meaning that the final share price might have been lower than their stated $112 per share.[47]
Additionally, many in RJR's board of directors had grown concerned at recent disclosures of Ross Johnson' unprecedented golden parachute deal.[48][49] Time Magazine featured Ross Johnson on the cover of their December 1988 issue along with the headline, "A Game of Greed: This man could pocket $100 million from the largest corporate takeover in history. Has the buyout craze gone too far?".[50] KKR's offer was welcomed by the board, and, to some observers, it appeared that their elevation of the reset issue as a deal-breaker in KKR's favor was little more than an excuse to reject Ross Johnson's higher payout of $112 per share. Johnson received $53 million from the buyout.[51] KKR collected a $75 million fee in the RJR takeover.[52] At $31.1 billion of transaction value (including assumed debt), RJR Nabisco was by far the largest leveraged buyout in history.[53]
In 2006 and 2007, a number of leveraged buyout transactions were completed which, for the first time, surpassed the RJR Nabisco leveraged buyout in terms of nominal purchase price. The deal was first surpassed in July 2006 by the $33 billion buyout of U.S. hospital operator Hospital Corporation of America, in which KKR participated, though the RJR deal was larger, adjusted for inflation. However, adjusted for inflation, none of the leveraged buyouts of the 2006–07 period would surpass RJR Nabisco. The RJR transaction benefited many of the parties involved. Investment bankers and lawyers who advised KKR walked away with over $1 billion in fees. Kravis and Roberts attracted an unprecedented amount of publicity that turned the cousins into instant celebrities. Size did not, however, guarantee success as the high purchase price and debt load would burden the performance of the investment, which KKR overcame, raising a new investment fund and continuing to invest throughout the 1990s.[54]
Early 1990s: The aftermath of RJR Nabisco
The buyout of RJR Nabisco was completed in April 1989 and KKR would spend the early 1990s repaying the RJR's enormous debt load through a series of asset sales and restructuring transactions.[55][56][57] After the RJR Nabisco deal, KKR did not complete a single investment in 1990, the first and only other year, besides 1982, with no new investment activity. They would not complete another major leveraged buyout transaction for more than three years, largely because of the shutdown of the high yield bond market and the collapse of Drexel Burnham Lambert which filed for bankruptcy in February 1990. KKR began to focus primarily on its existing portfolio companies acquired during the buyout boom of the late 1980s. Six of KKR's portfolio companies completed IPOs in 1991, including RJR Nabisco and Duracell.[3]
As the new decade began, KKR began restructuring RJR. In January 1990, it completed the sale of RJR's Del Monte Foods to a group led by Merrill Lynch. KKR had originally identified a group of divisions that it could sell to reduce debt.[58] Over the coming years, RJR would pursue a number of additional restructurings, equity injections and public offerings of stock to provide the company with added financial flexibility. KKR contributed $1.7 billion of new equity into RJR in July 1990 to complete a restructuring of the company's balance sheet that appeased unhappy bondholders. KKR's equity contribution as part of the original leveraged buyout of RJR had been only $1.5 billion.[59][60] In mid-December 1990, RJR announced an exchange offer that would swap debt in RJR for a new public stock in the company, effectively an unusual means of taking RJR public again and simultaneously reducing debt on the company.[61]
RJR issued additional stock to the public in March 1991 to further reduce debt, resulting in an upgrade of the credit rating of RJR's debt from junk to investment grade. KKR began to reduce its ownership in RJR in 1994, when its stock in RJR was used as part of the consideration for its leveraged buyout of Borden, Inc., a producer of food and beverage products, consumer products, and industrial products, in an unprecedented and complex transaction.[62][63] [64][65] The following year, in 1995, KKR would divest itself of its final stake in RJR Nabisco when Borden sold a $638 million block of stock.[66]
While KKR no longer had any ownership of RJR Nabisco by 1995, its original investment would not be fully realized until KKR exited its last investment in 2004. After sixteen years of efforts, including contributing new equity, taking RJR public, asset sales and exchanging shares of RJR for the ownership of Borden, Inc., KKR finally sold the last remnants of its 1989 investment. In July 2004, KKR agreed to sell its stock in Borden Chemical to Apollo Management for $1.2 billion.[67]
Early 1990s: Investments
In the early 1990s, the absence of an active high yield market prompted KKR to change its tactics, avoiding large leveraged buyouts in favor of industry consolidations through what were described as leveraged buildups or rollups. One of KKR's largest investments in the 1990s was the leveraged buildup of Primedia in partnership with former executives of Macmillan Publishing, which KKR had failed to acquire in 1988.[68] KKR created Primedia's predecessor, K-III Communications,[69] a platform to buy media properties, initially completing the $310 million divisional buyout of the book club division of Macmillan along with the assets of Intertec Publishing Corporation in May 1989.[70][71]
During the early 1990s, K-III continued acquiring publishing assets, including a $650 million acquisition from News Corporation in 1991.[72] K-III went public, however instead of cashing out, KKR continued to make new investments in the company in 1998, 2000 and 2001 to support acquisition activity.[73] In 2005, Primedia redeemed KKR's preferred stock in the company but KKR was estimated to have lost hundreds of millions of dollars on its common stock holdings as the price of the company's stock collapsed.[71]
In 1991, KKR partnered with Fleet/Norstar Financial Group in the 1991 acquisition of the Bank of New England, from the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.[74] In January 1996, KKR would exchange its investment for a 7.5% interest in Fleet Bank.[75] KKR completed the 1992 buyout of American Re Corporation from Aetna[76] as well as a 47% interest in TW Corporation, later known as The Flagstar Companies and owner of Denny's in 1992.[77] Among the other notable investments KKR completed in the early 1990s included World Color Press (1993–95),[78] RELTEC Corporation (1995) and Bruno's (1995).[79]
By the mid-1990s, the debt markets were improving and KKR had moved on from the RJR Nabisco buyout. In 1996, KKR was able to complete the bulk of fundraising for what was then a record $6 billion private equity fund, the KKR 1996 Fund.[80] However, KKR was still burdened by the performance of the RJR investment and repeated obituaries in the media.[81] KKR was required by its investors to reduce the fees it charged and to calculate its carried interest based on the total profit of the fund (i.e., offsetting losses from failed deals against the profits from successful deals).[3]
KKR's activity level would accelerate over the second half of the 1990s making a series of notable investments including Spalding Holdings Corporation and Evenflo (1996),[82] Newsquest (1996),[83] KinderCare Learning Centers (1997),[84] Amphenol Corporation (1997),[85] Randalls Food Markets (1997)[86], The Boyds Collection (1998),[87] MedCath Corporation (1998),[88] Willis Group Holdings (1998),[89] Smiths Group (1999), and Wincor Nixdorf (1999).[90]
KKR's largest investment of the 1990s would be one of its least successful. In January 1998, KKR and Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst agreed to the $1.5 billion buyout of Regal Entertainment Group.[91] KKR and Hicks Muse had initially intended to combine Regal with Act III Cinemas, which KKR had acquired in 1997 for $706 million[92] and United Artists Theaters, which Hicks Muse had agreed to acquire for $840 million in November 1997. Shortly after agreeing to the Regal takeover, the deal with United Artists fell apart, destroying the strategy to eliminate costs by building a larger combined company.[93] Two years later, in 2000, Regal encountered significant financial issues and was forced to file for bankruptcy protection; the company passed to billionaire investor Philip Anschutz.[94]
At the start of the 21st century, the landscape of large leveraged buyout firms was changing. Several large and storied firms, including Hicks Muse Tate & Furst and Forstmann Little & Company were dragged down by heavy losses in the bursting of the telecom bubble. Although, KKR's track record since RJR Nabisco was mixed, losses on such investments as Regal Entertainment Group, Spalding, Flagstar and Primedia (previously K-III Communications) were offset by successes in Willis Group, Wise Foods, Inc., Wincor Nixdorf and MTU Aero Engines, among others.[3]
Additionally, KKR was one of the few firms that was able to complete large leveraged buyout transactions in the years immediately following the collapse of the Internet bubble, including Shoppers Drug Mart and Bell Canada Yellow Pages.[3][96] KKR was able to realize its investment in Shoppers Drug Mart through a 2002 IPO and subsequent public stock offerings.[95] The directories business would be taken public in 2004 as Yellow Pages Income Fund, a Canadian income trust.[97]
In 2004 a consortium comprising KKR, Bain Capital and real estate development company Vornado Realty Trust announced the $6.6 billion acquisition of Toys "R" Us, the toy retailer. A month earlier, Cerberus Capital Management, made a $5.5 billion offer for both the toy and baby supplies businesses.[98] The Toys 'R' Us buyout was one of the largest in several years.[99] Following this transaction, by the end of 2004 and in 2005, major buyouts were once again becoming common and market observers were stunned by the leverage levels and financing terms obtained by financial sponsors in their buyouts.[100]
In 2005, KKR was one of seven private equity firms involved in the buyout of SunGard in a transaction valued at $11.3 billion. KKR's partners in the acquisition were Silver Lake Partners, Bain Capital, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Blackstone Group, Providence Equity Partners, and TPG Capital. This represented the largest leveraged buyout completed since the takeover of RJR Nabisco in 1988. SunGard was the largest buyout of a technology company until the Blackstone-led buyout of Freescale Semiconductor. The SunGard transaction was notable given the number of firms involved in the transaction, the largest club deal completed to that point. The involvement of seven firms in the consortium was criticized by investors in private equity who considered cross-holdings among firms to be generally unattractive.[101][102]
Since 2005 and the Buyout Boom
In 2006, KKR raised a new $17.6 billion fund the KKR 2006 Fund, with which the firm began executing a series of some of the largest buyouts in history. KKR's $44 billion takeover of Texas-based power utility, TXU, in 2007, proved to be the largest leveraged buyout of the mid-2000s buyout boom and the largest buyout completed to date.[103] Among the most notable companies acquired by KKR in 2006 and 2007 were the following:
|Company Description
|KKR and Bain Capital, together with Merrill Lynch and the Frist family (which had founded the company) completed a $31.6 billion acquisition of the hospital company, 17 years after it was taken private for the first time in a management buyout. At the time of its announcement, the HCA buyout would be the first of several to set new records for the largest buyout, eclipsing the 1989 buyout of RJR Nabisco. It would later be surpassed by the buyouts of Equity Office Properties, and TXU.
|NXP Semiconductors
|In August 2006, a consortium of KKR, Silver Lake Partners and AlpInvest Partners acquired a controlling 80.1% share of semiconductors unit of Philips for €6.4 billion. The new company, based in the Netherlands, was renamed NXP Semiconductors.
|The Danish phone company was acquired by KKR, Apax Partners, Providence Equity Partners and Permira for €12.2 billion ($15.3 billion), which at the time made it the second largest European buyout in history.
|Dollar General
|KKR completed a buyout of the chain of discount stores operating in the U.S.
|Alliance Boots
|KKR and Stefano Pessina, the company's deputy chairman and largest shareholder, acquired the UK drug store retailer for £12.4 billion ($24.8 billion) including assumed debt, after increasing their bid more than 40% amidst intense competition from Terra Firma Capital Partners and Wellcome Trust. The buyout came only a year after the merger of Boots Group plc (Boots the Chemist), and Alliance UniChem plc.
|Blackstone Group, KKR, TPG Capital and Goldman Sachs acquired the medical devices company for $11.6 billion.
|First Data
|KKR and TPG Capital completed the $29 billion buyout of the credit and debit card payment processor and former parent of Western Union. Michael Capellas, previously the CEO of MCI Communications and Compaq was named CEO of the privately held company.
|TXU (Energy Future Holdings)
|An investor group led by KKR and TPG Capital and together with Goldman Sachs completed the $44.37 billion[114] buyout of the regulated utility and power producer. The investor group had to work closely with ERCOT regulators to gain approval of the transaction but had significant experience with the regulators from their earlier buyout of Texas Genco. TXU is the largest buyout in history, and retained this distinction when the announced buyout of BCE failed to close in December 2008. The deal was notable for a drastic change in environmental policy for the energy giant, in terms of its carbon emissions from coal power plants and funding alternative energy.
Other non-buyout investments completed by KKR during this period included Legg Mason, Sun Microsystems, Tarkett, Longview Power Plant and Seven Network. In October 2006, KKR acquired a 50% stake in Tarkett, a France-based distributor of flooring products, in a deal valued at about €1.4 billion ($1.8 billion). On November 20, 2006, KKR announced it would form a A$4 billion partnership with the Seven Network of Australia.[117] On January 23, 2007, KKR announced it would invest $700 million through a PIPE investment in Sun Microsystems.[118] In January 2008, KKR announced it had made a $1.25 billion PIPE investment in Legg Mason through a convertible preferred stock offering.[119]
In addition to its successful buyout transactions, KKR was involved in the failed buyout of Harman International Industries (NYSE: HAR), an upscale audio equipment maker. On April 26, 2007, Harman announced it had entered an agreement to be acquired by KKR and Goldman Sachs.[120] As the financing markets became more adverse in the summer of 2007, the buyout was on tenuous ground. In September 2007, KKR and Goldman backed out of the $8 billion buyout of Harman. By the end of the day, Harman's shares had plummeted by more than 24% upon the news.[121]
|Selected Kohlberg Kravis Roberts 2006–2008 Investments
Initial public offering
In 2007, KKR filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission[2] to raise $1.25 billion by selling an ownership interest in its management company.[122] The filing came less than two weeks after the initial public offering of rival private equity firm Blackstone Group. KKR had previously listed its KPE vehicle in 2006, but for the first time, KKR would offer investors an ownership interest in the management company itself. The onset of the credit crunch and the shutdown of the IPO market dampened the prospects of obtaining a valuation attractive to KKR. The flotation was repeatedly postponed, and called off by the end of August.[123]
The following year, in July 2008, KKR announced a new plan to list its shares. The plan called for KKR to complete a reverse takeover of its listed affiliate KKR Private Equity Investors in exchange for a 21% interest in the firm.[124] In November 2008, KKR announced a delay of this transaction until 2009. Shares of KPE had declined significantly in the second half of 2008 with the onset of the credit crunch. KKR has announced that it expects to close the transaction in 2009.[125] In October 2009, KKR listed shares in KKR & Co. on the Euronext exchange, replacing KPE and anticipates a listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2010. The public entity represents a 30% interest in Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. In October 2010, KKR acquired about nine members of Goldman Sachs Group proprietary trading team after entertaining offers from investment firms such as Perella Weinberg and Blackrock. With Goldman shutting down its proprietary trading operations, its executives, led by Bob Howard, will help KKR expand beyond leveraged buyouts into areas such as hedge funds.
2010 to present day
In January 2014, KKR acquired Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc for $2.4 billion from two private equity companies - Stone Point, and Hellman & Friedman.[126]
In June 2014, KKR announced it was taking a one-third stake in a Spanish energy business of Acciona Energy, at a cost of €417 million ($567 million). The international renewable energy generation business operates renewable assets, largely wind farms, across 14 countries including the United States, Italy and South Africa.[127]
In August 2014, KKR announced it was investing $400 million to acquire Fujian Sunner Development, China's largest chicken farmer, which breeds, processes and supplies frozen and fresh chickens to consumers and corporate clients, such as KFC and McDonald's, across China.[128]
In September 2014, the firm invested $90 million in a lighting and electrics firm Savant Systems.[129]
In January 2015, KKR confirmed its purchase of British rail ticket website thetrainline.com, previously owned by Exponent. The purchase sum is unknown.[130]
On October 12, 2015, KKR announced that it has entered into definitive agreement with Allianz Capital Partners to acquire their majority stake in Selecta Group, a European vending services operator.[131]
On September 1, 2016, KKR announced that it had acquired Epicor Software Corporation, an American software company.[132]
Notable current and former employees
Over the years, KKR has seen the departure of many of its original partners, the most notable being original co-founder Jerome Kohlberg. After a leave of absence due to an illness in 1985, Kohlberg returned to find increasing differences in strategy with his partners Kravis and Roberts.[133] In 1987, Kohlberg left KKR to found a new private equity firm Kohlberg & Company. Kohlberg & Company returned to the investment style that Kohlberg had originally practiced at Bear Stearns and in KKR's earlier years, acquiring smaller, middle-market companies.[3][134][135]
Since 1996, general partners of KKR have included Henry Kravis, George R. Roberts, Paul Raether, Robert MacDonnell, Jose Gandarillas, Michael Michelson, Saul Fox, James Greene, Michael Tokarz, Clifton Robbins, Scott Stuart, Perry Golkin and Edward Gilhuly.[136] Among those who left were Saul Fox, Ted Ammon, Ned Gilhuly, Mike Tokarz and Scott Stuart who had been instrumental in establishing KKR's reputation and track record in the 1980s.[137] KKR remains tightly controlled by Kravis and Roberts. The issue of succession has remained an important consideration for KKR's future as an ongoing institutionalized firm.
- Saul A. Fox left KKR in 1997 to found Fox Paine & Company, a middle market private equity firm with over $1.5 billion of capital under management[138][139]
- Clifton S. Robbins left KKR to join competitor General Atlantic Partners in 2000 and later founded Blue Harbour Group,[140] a private investment firm based in Greenwich, Connecticut.[141]
- Edward A. Gilhuly and Scott Stuart left KKR in 2004 to launch Sageview Capital. Prior to this, Gilhuly was the managing partner of KKR's European operations, based in London; Stuart managed KKR's energy and consumer products industry groups.[141]
- Ted Ammon, started several new ventures including Big Flower Press, which printed newspaper circulars, and Chancery Lane Capital, a boutique private equity firm, before being murdered in his Long Island home October 2001. The lover of his estranged, now deceased wife, Generosa, was later convicted.[141][142][143][144]
- Paul Hazen, served as chairman and CEO of Wells Fargo (1995–2001).[145] Hazen later returned to KKR to serve as chairman of Accel-KKR, a joint venture with Accel Partners and later as chairman of KKR's publicly listed affiliate, KFN.
- Clive Hollick, Baron Hollick, CEO of United News and Media (1996–2005)
- Ken Mehlman joined KKR in 2008 as Global Head of Public Affairs.[146]
- Scott C. Nuttall (born 1972), heads KKR's fastest-growing department, the Global Capital and Asset Management Group, which includes Asset Management, Capital Markets and Client and Partner Group. He joined KKR in November 1996 after leaving the Blackstone Group. His group, the firm's fastest-growing division, has $25 billion under management. With the support of co-founder George Roberts, Nuttall has largely spearheaded the campaign to expand KKR beyond its institutional investors (legacy and otherwise) into credit investment, and alternative investments, pointing out that there are billions "in revenues up for grabs".[147][148][149]
- David Petraeus, selected to serve as chairman of the newly formed KKR Global Institute (2013—present)[150]
Joseph Grundfest, Professor at Stanford Law School and youngest SEC Commissioner
Works about KKR
- Baker, George; Smith, George (1998). The New Financial Capitalists: KKR and the Creation of Corporate Value. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-64260-6.
- Anders, George (1992). Merchants of Debt: KKR and the Mortgaging of American Business. New York: BasicBooks. ISBN 978-0-465-04522-8.
- Bartlett, Sarah (1991). The Money Machine: How KKR Manufactured Power & Profits. New York: Warner Books. ISBN 978-0-446-51608-2.
- Burrough, Bryan (1990). Barbarians at the Gate. New York: Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-016172-8.
See also
- 1 2 3 KKR locations (company Web site); retrieved March 8, 2010. Archived January 18, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
- 1 2 3 4 5 KKR & Co. L.P., Form S-1, Securities And Exchange Commission, July 3, 2007
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. Company History. Funding Universe; retrieved February 16, 2009.
- ↑ "What's An Aging 'Barbarian' To Do?" The New York Times, August 26, 2001.
- ↑ What Does Henry Kravis Want?. The New York Times, September 6, 2008
- ↑ KKR Investment History (company website); retrieved February 16, 2009. Archived December 18, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "KKR to Relocate Corporate Headquarters to Manhattan's Transformative New Neighborhood on the West Side | Business Wire". www.businesswire.com. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
- ↑ "KKR Files for NYSE Listing", March 17, 2010.
- 1 2 2007 KKR Annual Review; retrieved February 16, 2009.
- ↑ "Canada Pension Plan Unit to Join K.K.R. Merchant Banking Venture", New York Times (Dealbook Section), January 17, 2013.
- 1 2 "Several Giant Pension Funds Investing in Offer for Nabisco". The New York Times, October 31, 1988.
- ↑ KKR & Co. L.P., Form 10-Q, Securities And Exchange Commission, March 31, 2014
- 1 2 "KKR Financial REIT IPO debuts: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts manages trust", Marketwatch.com, June 24, 2005.
- ↑ KKR arm in talks after fresh repayment delays. Reuters, February 20, 2008.
- ↑ "Kohlberg Affiliate Sells Stake in Unit", Reuters, April 1, 2008.
- ↑ "Opening Private Equity's Door, at Least a Crack, to Public Investors". The New York Times, May 4, 2006.
- ↑ Timmons, Heather. "Private Equity Goes Public for $5 Billion. Its Investors Ask, 'What's Next?'". The New York Times, November 10, 2006
- ↑ Anderson, Jenny. "Where Private Equity Goes, Hedge Funds May Follow", New York Times, June 23, 2006.
- ↑ KKR Private Equity Investors Reports Results for Quarter Ended March 31, 2008. KKR Private Equity Investors Press Release, May 7, 2008; retrieved February 16, 2009.
- ↑ see pdf-document, retrieved in January 2015
- ↑ statement on KKR-leaflet, retrieved in January 2015
- ↑ Burrough, Bryan. Barbarians at the Gate. New York: Harper & Row, 1990; pp. 133-136.
- ↑ Burrough, Bryan. Barbarians at the Gate (New York: Harper & Row, 1990), pp. 136-140.
- ↑ Holland, Max (1989), When the Machine Stopped: A Cautionary Tale from Industrial America, Boston: Harvard Business School Press, ISBN 978-0-87584-208-0, OCLC 246343673., pp. 149–169.
- ↑ Malone & Hyde Accepts Bid The New York Times, June 12, 1984.
- ↑ Wayne, Leslie. "Wometco Agrees To Buyout", The New York Times. September 22, 1983.
- ↑ Dodson, Steve. "Beatrice Deal Is Biggest Buyout Yet". The New York Times, November 17, 1985.
- ↑ Sterngold, James. "Drexel's Role in Beatrice Deal Examined". The New York Times, April 28, 1988.
- ↑ Fisher, Lawrence M. Safeway Buyout: A Success Story. The New York Times, October 21, 1988.
- ↑ Feder, Barnaby. "Asbestos: The Saga Drags On". The New York Times, April 2, 1989.
- ↑ "Chapter 11 For Kohlberg, Kravis Unit". The New York Times, December 28, 1989.
- ↑ "The Granddaddy Of All Takeovers", The New York Times Book Review, January 21, 1990.
- ↑ "Nabisco Executives Offer $17 Billion for Company". The New York Times, October 21, 1988.
- ↑ "Shearson Risks, Rewards on RJR Nabisco". The New York Times, October 22, 1988.
- ↑ "Nabisco Bid Seen by Kohlberg". The New York Times, October 24, 1988.
- ↑ "Buyout Specialist Bids $20.3 Billion For RJR Nabisco". The New York Times, October 25, 1988.
- ↑ "RJR Nabisco Bid Gives New Respectability To Giant Deals Financed With Huge Debt". The New York Times, October 26, 1988.
- ↑ "Concern Over Kohlberg, Kravis Strategy". The New York Times, November 2, 1988.
- ↑ "RJR Nabisco Bidders Said to Talk". The New York Times, October 26, 1988.
- ↑ "The Nabisco Battle's Key Moment". The New York Times, December 2, 1988.
- ↑ Joint Deal For Nabisco Is Rejected. The New York Times, October 27, 1988.
- ↑ RJR Nabisco Will Give Kohlberg, Kravis Data. The New York Times, October 27, 1988
- ↑ Forstmann Declines to Bid on RJR Nabisco. The New York Times, November 17, 1988.
- ↑ "Suitors Quarrel Over RJR Nabisco". The New York Times, November 8, 1988.
- ↑ RJR Nabisco Discloses Guidelines for Its Buyout. The New York Times, November 9, 1988.
- ↑ "RJR Nabisco Suitor Claims $24.88 Billion Victory". The New York Times, December 1, 1988.
- ↑ "RJR Nabisco Explains Its Choice". The New York Times, December 8, 1988
- ↑ "Nabisco Executives to Take Huge Gains in Their Buyout". The New York Times, November 5, 1988.
- ↑ "A Growing Backlash Against Greed". The New York Times, November 13, 1988
- ↑ "Game of Greed", Time Magazine (1988)
- ↑ "Losers Get Some Spoils In Fight for RJR Nabisco". The New York Times, December 2, 1988
- ↑ "Kohlberg, Kravis to Collect $75 Million RJR Nabisco Fee". The New York Times, February 1, 1989.
- ↑ "RJR Nabisco, An Epilogue". The New York Times, March 12, 1999.
- ↑ "2 Buyout Firms Build New Funds". The New York Times, November 23, 1990.
- ↑ "Kohlberg, Kravis Now RJR's Owner". Associated Press, April 29, 1989.
- ↑ "History Of The RJR Nabisco Takeover". The New York Times, December 2, 1988.
- ↑ "Is RJR Worth $25 Billion?" The New York Times, December 2, 1988.
- ↑ "RJR Completes Sale of Del Monte". The New York Times, January 11, 1990.
- ↑ "Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts Loan to RJR Renegotiated". The New York Times, June 27, 1990.
- ↑ "RJR Move Helps Lift 'Junk Bonds'". The New York Times, July 17, 1990.
- ↑ "RJR Offers Cash and Stock for 'Junk Bonds'". The New York Times, December 18, 1990.
- ↑ Agrees to a Takeover. The New York Times, September 13, 1994.
- ↑ "Kohlberg's Impetus in Borden Deal". The New York Times, September 14, 1994.
- ↑ "Borden Signs Agreement for Sale to Kohlberg". The New York Times, September 24, 1994.
- ↑ "Kohlberg, Kravis Says It Has Control of Borden". The New York Times, December 22, 1994.
- ↑ "Kohlberg, Kravis Plans to Divest Remaining Stake in RJR Nabisco". The New York Times, March 16, 1995.
- ↑ "Apollo Buys Borden Chemical for $649 million". The New York Times, July 7, 2004.
- ↑ "Kohlberg Ends Bid for Macmillan". The New York Times, November 4, 1988.
- ↑ K-III's New Name To Be 'Primedia'. The New York Times, November 1, 1997.
- ↑ "Macmillan Book Club Unit And a Publisher Being Sold". The New York Times, May 23, 1989.
- 1 2 "As Primedia Falls, Preferred Stock Lives Up to Its Name". The New York Times, October 26, 2005.
- ↑ Kravis Rouses Itself, The New York Times, April 29, 1991
- ↑ "K-III Communications Files Plan For an Initial Offering of Stock". The New York Times, September 6, 1995.
- ↑ Regulators Pick Buyer To Operate New England Bank. The New York Times, April 23, 1991.
- ↑ "Kohlberg Kravis in Swap for 7.5% of Fleet". The New York Times, January 3, 1996.
- ↑ "Kohlberg, Kravis in Aetna Reinsurance Deal". The New York Times, June 9, 1992.
- ↑ "Kohlberg, Kravis Plans Stake in TW". The New York Times, June 26, 1992.
- ↑ "Kohlberg Unit to Buy Alden Press". The New York Times, January 19, 1993.
- ↑ "Kohlberg, Kravis to Acquire Bruno's Supermarket Chain". The New York Times, April 21, 1995.
- ↑ "$5 Billion Fund By Kohlberg Seen". The New York Times, September 13, 1996.
- ↑ "At K.K.R., the Glory Days Are Past". The New York Times, August 10, 1995.
- ↑ "Kohlberg Plans Stake In Spalding And Evenflo". The New York Times, August 16, 1996.
- ↑ "Newsquest Company History". FundingUniverse.com; retrieved February 16, 2009.
- ↑ "Kohlberg Kravis Will Buy Kindercare for $467 Million". The New York Times, October 4, 1996.
- ↑ "Kohlberg Kravis Set to Offer $1.2 Billion for Cable Maker". The New York Times, January 24, 1997.
- ↑ "Supermarkets Get a Brand New Bag". The New York Times, August 31, 1997.
- ↑ "The Boyds Collection, Ltd. Company History". FundingUniverse.com; retrieved February 16, 2009.
- ↑ "Kohlberg Kravis And Welsh Carson Acquiring Medcath". The New York Times, March 14, 1998.
- ↑ "Kohlberg Kravis-Led Group To Buy Big Insurance Broker". The New York Times, July 23, 1998.
- ↑ "Wincor Nixdorf Holding Company History". FundingUniverse.com; retrieved February 16, 2009.
- ↑ 2 Buyout Firms Make Deal To Acquire Regal Cinemas. The New York Times, January 21, 1998
- ↑ Kohlberg Kravis In $660 Million Deal For Act III Cinemas. The New York Times, October 21, 1997.
- ↑ "Amid Blame, United Artists Sale Collapses". The New York Times, February 23, 1998.
- ↑ "Regal Cinemas Considers Filing For Bankruptcy". The New York Times, November 16, 2000.
- 1 2 Shoppers Drug Mart Sells Shares. Retail Merchandiser, March 17, 2004; retrieved February 16, 2009. Archived January 17, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "BCE Sells Directory Unit". The New York Times, November 30, 2002.
- ↑ "Yellow Pages Income Fund Announces, 43 Million Offering". Yellow Pages Group press release, May 26, 2004; retrieved February 16, 2009.
- ↑ Sorkin, Andrew Ross and Rozhon, Tracie. "Three Firms Are Said to Buy Toys 'R' Us for $6 Billion". New York Times, March 17, 2005.
- ↑ What's Next for Toys 'R' Us?. The Wall Street Journal, March 18, 2005.
- ↑ "Deal Mania: Shades of the '80s: The leveraged buyout is back in vogue". US News & World Report, April 10, 2005.
- ↑ "Capital Firms Agree to Buy SunGard Data in Cash Deal". The New York Times, March 29, 2005.
- ↑ "Do Too Many Cooks Spoil the Takeover Deal?" The New York Times, April 3, 2005.
- ↑ K.K.R., Texas Pacific Plan Record Buyout of TXU. The New York Times, February 23, 2007.
- ↑ Sorkin, Andrew Ross. "HCA Buyout Highlights Era of Going Private". The New York Times, July 25, 2006.
- ↑ Bloomberg News (August 4, 2006). "Technology; Royal Philips Sells Unit for $4.4 Billion". The New York Times. Retrieved April 27, 2008.
- ↑ "Takeover firms will pay $15.3b to buy Danish phone giant TDC." Bloomberg, December 1, 2005
- ↑ "TDC-One year on." Dow Jones Private Equity News, January 22, 2007; retrieved February 16, 2009.
- ↑ Peters, Jeremy W. (March 13, 2007). "Buyout Firm Is Acquiring Dollar General Retail Chain". The New York Times. Retrieved January 4, 2009.
- ↑ Werdigier, Julia. "Equity Firm Wins Bidding for a Retailer, Alliance Boots". The New York Times, April 25, 2007.
- ↑ "Terra Firma drops Boots bid plan". BBC. April 24, 2007.
- ↑ De la Merced, Michael J. "Biomet Accepts Sweetened Takeover Offer". New York Times, June 8, 2007
- ↑ "KKR Offer of $26 Billion Is Accepted by First Data". Reuters, April 3, 2007
- ↑ "Kohlberg Kravis to Buy First Data for $29 Billion". The New York Times, April 3, 2007.
- ↑ Source: Thomson Financial
- ↑ Lonkevich, Dan and Klump, Edward. KKR, Texas Pacific Will Acquire TXU for $45 Billion Bloomberg.com, February 26, 2007.
- ↑ Skariachan, Dhanya (February 26, 2007). "KKR, Texas Pacific-led group to buy TXU Corp". Reuters.
- ↑ "Seven in $4bn asset sell-off". News.com.au, November 20, 2006
- ↑ "Sun Microsystems Welcomes Endorsement and Investment From KKR". Sun Microsystems Press Release, January 23, 2007 Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "Legg Mason Makes Deal With Equity Firm". Reuters, January 15, 2008
- ↑ Harman International Industries to be Acquired by KKR and GS Capital Partners. Harman International press release, April 26, 2007; retrieved February 16, 2009. Archived July 4, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "Wary Buyers May Scuttle Two Deals". The New York Times, September 22, 2007.
- ↑ Jenny Anderson and Michael J. de la Merced. "Kohlberg Kravis Plans to Go Public", The New York Times, July 4, 2007.
- ↑ "KKR postpones $1.25 bn float as credit chaos deters buyers". The Times (UK), August 23, 2007.
- ↑ After Delay, KKR Finds a Way to Go Public. The New York Times, July 28, 2008.
- ↑ K.K.R. Calls Listing Delay 'Process Related'. The New York Times, November 3, 2008.
- ↑ Neha Dimri; Aman Shah (28 January 2014). "KKR to take control of Sedgwick Claims Management in $2.4 billion deal". Reuters.
- ↑ "Equity investor KKR picks stakes in Acciona Energia unit for 417mn euros". Spain News.Net. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
- ↑ "KKR to acquire China chicken developer for $400 mn". Business Sun. 26 August 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
- ↑ KKR invests in smart home tech company Savant Systems. Reuters, 4 September 2014
- ↑ "Deals of the day - Mergers and acquisitions". Reuters. Retrieved 2015-01-22.
- ↑ "KKR | KKR agrees to acquire majority stake in Selecta from ACP". media.kkr.com. Retrieved 2015-10-12.
- ↑ "Epicor Announces Close of KKR Acquisition and Executive Leadership Appointments to Accelerate Growth Strategy". media.kkr.com. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
- ↑ "Buyout Pioneer Quitting Fray". The New York Times, June 19, 1987.
- ↑ Kohlberg In Dispute Over Firm. The New York Times, August 30, 1989.
- ↑ "Kohlberg Suit Settlement". The New York Times, February 23, 1990.
- ↑ Duracell International Inc. SEC Form SC 13G/A ("Statement of acquisition of beneficial ownership"); filed February 6, 1996.
- ↑ Baker, George; Smith, George (1998). The New Financial Capitalists: KKR and the Creation of Corporate Value. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-64260-6.
- ↑ ""For Saul Fox, Bigger Isn't Always Better in the World of Buyouts". foxpaine.com, May 15, 2000. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
- ↑ Anders, George. "Bitter End of a Partnership", Wall Street Journal, September 15, 2007.
- ↑ Blue Harbour Group> About Blue Harbour (company website); retrieved February 16, 2009.
- 1 2 3 Barbarians at the Gate: Contrasting fortunes for those closest to the deal. eFinancial News, November 3, 2008; retrieved February 16, 2009.
- ↑ "Pelosi Found Guilty of Murder". CBS News. December 13, 2004. Retrieved May 17, 2007.
- ↑ "Murder in East Hampton", Vanity Fair, January 2002.
- ↑ "Mystery of the Murdered Millionaire". Dateline NBC; retrieved February 16, 2009.
- ↑ Paul M. Hazen profile as Wells Fargo & Co. Chairman and CEO; retrieved February 16, 2009.
- ↑ Mehlman profile at KKR website
- ↑ Scott Nuttall profile at Forbes
- ↑ "A kinder, gentler KKR wants a piece of your 401K", Forbes, January 23, 2013.
- ↑ Profile of Scott Nuttall at investing.businessweek.com, Businessweek.com, January 23, 2013.
- ↑ Reuters article re David Petraeus as Chair, KKR Global Institute
- FT.com / Industries / Basic industries – "KKR set to buy Masonite for C$3.1bn"
- Gross, Daniel & David Sterling. "Has Henry Kravis gone soft?". Slate, August 5, 2007; retrieved August 7, 2007.
- The KKR Way. Bloomberg Markets, August 2007
- "The barbarians at the gate have been losing their Midas touch". timesonline.co.uk, August 6, 2005; retrieved February 16, 2009.
External links


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Star Wars Black 6" Action Figures
Judge me by my size, do you?
- The first EVER 6" scale Star Wars action figures
- Choose from Darth Maul, Slave Leia, Boba Fett, Han Solo, or Greedo
- Collaboration between Hasbro and Gentle Giant
You don't need these. You've got the 3 3/4" from when you were a kid. Well-played with. Been through many a staged battle. Maybe you've got the 12" collectors-type figures still MIB. You definitely don't need these.
But you know what? That Sandtrooper's paint job is pretty stellar. (No seriously. It's distressed like he's been trudging around Tatooine for months.) And look at the sculpt on Maul. I mean, it wouldn't hurt just to pick up one or two right? You'd be getting in on the ground floor of what might be the next big thing. It's not like you can break into 3 3/4" at this stage of the game, but these are the first EVER 6" scale Star Wars action figures.
You don't need these, but, then again, you do.
Product Specifications
- Star Wars Black 6" Action Figures
- Collaboration between Hasbro and Gentle Giant
- Just the right size for displaying on your desk
- Officially-licensed Lucasfilm collectibles
Luke Skywalker (Rebel pilot outfit): removable helmet, lightsaber hilt, blaster, and lightsaber bladeno longer available
- Darth Maul: 2-piece lightsaber hilt, macrobinoculars, alternate head with robes, and 2 lightsaber blades
- Slave Leia: removable slaver collar, vibro-ax, and force pike
R2-D2: lightsaber hilt, opening accessory tool panels, 2 sensorscopes, and retractable third legno longer available Sandtrooper: backpack, removable pauldron, and 3 gunsno longer available
- Boba Fett: removable jetpack, functioning holster, Sacros K-11 blaster pistol, EE-3 carbine rifle
- Han Solo: extra pair of hands, removable vest and belt with working holster, BlasTech DL-44 heavy blaster pistol, BlasTech E-11 blaster rifle, and removable Stormtrooper belt with working holster
- Greedo: removable vest and belt with working holster, BlasTech DT-12 heavy blaster pistol
- Dimensions: 6" tall
- Ages 4+


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BBC Trust approves Project
Cartel Canvas
Attaches strings
The BBC's self-regulatory body, the BBC Trust, has approved the Beeb-led set top box Project Canvas with certain conditions.
Domestic broadcasters have lagged behind on HD TV, while Sky, which launched HD in 2006, has found around two million customers for its Sky+ HD services. To close the gap, the old guard are banking on a common platform, with IPTV and web built-in.
The Canvas project copyrights vital parts of the technical specification, which can't be seen except under NDA. Effectively this hardwires the content into the silicon: like buying an FM radio in Singapore and finding it only plays Singapore-approved content when you get home.
But this may have to change.
The Trust makes four conditions for the BBC's continuing supports - and demands that these be "enshrined in the objects and shareholders' agreement". The conditions are:
- The joint venture may develop ways in which to recover operational costs but, for the avoidance of doubt, any such activity will be charged to third parties on a "cost recovery" basis only.
- Entry controls in terms of technical and content standards will be minimal.
- Access will not be bundled with other products or services.
- Listing on the electronic programme guide and UI will be awarded in a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory manner.
The BBC is not authorised to participate in Canvas unless it ensures that that these principles are enshrined in the objects and shareholders' agreement of the Canvas joint venture.
There are other ways of skinning this cat, as one Reg commenter pointed out, open standards are there for a reason.
OpenIPTV specs are by contrast, well, open and global. But basing a Canvas box on truly open standards may have opened up the market much wider. We can't be having that - UK viewers must be protected by having a UK-only device serving up nice, UK-approved content in a UK-approved manner. If it stays a UK-only platform and means fewer devices get made, so there's less competition and higher prices, well, that's too bad.
For some reason, free software and open standards people are sitting on their hands. Such is the emotional tug of Auntie Beeb.
An interesting bit of history
The very existence of any alternative to the BBC emerging in the 1950s was bitterly opposed, as Burton Paulu wrote in his history of TV in Britain. It's interesting to see who lobbied against it then, and how.
Strongly opposed to commercial television was a group which later came to be known as 'the Establishment', that informal but effective coalition of the British power elite, drawn from the upper classes; institutions such as the Church of England, and Oxford and Cambridge universities; along with major civil service heads, most churchmen and the influential members of the BBC's advisory councils and committees. The vice chancellors of most British universities sent letters to The Times opposing commercial television … A National Television Council was created to expound their views.
Which you probably already know. Interestingly, Paulu notes:
Most newspapers opposed commercial television … the Manchester Guardian and the Observer taking strong positions. Even a majority of the Conservative press was against the proposal.
In the House of Lords in May 1952, Lord Reith even compared commercial TV to the introduction of smallpox, the bubonic plague and the Black Death. So fear of competition is nothing new.
The BBC then went on to enjoy its Golden Age - it improved enormously after ITV started to give it a run for its money. ®


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Katsushika Hokusai - Under the Wave off Kanagawa 60x28
Total Dimension : 60'' (w) x 28'' (h) (150 x 70cm)
Details in Cm : 30 x 70cm x 5 Panels
Details in Inches : 12x 28 in x 5 Panels
This beautiful Art is 100% hand-painted on canvas by one of our professional artists. Our experienced artists start with a blank canvas and paint each and every brushstroke by hand.
Every painting we sell is 100% hand painted with oil on canvas. Since it's impossible to paint the exact same painting every time, the artwork you receive may vary slightly in color and texture from the sample photo above. This is what makes our hand painted artwork more valuable than prints. Find below more information about this Painting.
Any questions, do not hesitate to chat with one of our agents or call us at 1-888-604-2215
|Creation Process
|Canvas Art Print
|Handpainted Oil Painting
|41 to 60 In. Wide


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- description
Keep your thick and thin pencils sharp with Mally's Dual Sharpener. And of course, this fab tool will match all the Mally gear you already have in your beauty arsenal!
Use the small 8mm sharpener for your Evercolor Starlight Waterproof Eyeliners, 24/7 Professional Brow Pencils, 24/7 Professional Eyelining System Pencils, and Lip Essentials Lip Pencils.
Use the larger 12mm sharpener for your Lip Magnifiers, Lip Defender Clear Liner and Magnifiers, and Eye Amplifying Shadow Liners.
- Reviews


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Head Coach
Phone: 07760166089
- Diamondbacks finish their first season of play (2011) with an impressive overall record of 20-6, only to fall victim in the Championship Game to the Nationals.
- "Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal." -V.L.
- "Dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you're willing to pay the price." -V.L.


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Board Room
343 W. Erie St. 312-972-9882
The name may say business, but you won't be getting much work done at this intimate nightclub where go-go dancers keep the party going from their perch behind the bar and high-rollers drop big money on magnum bottles of champagne.
222 W. Ontario St. 312-787-6060
Dancers, bottle service, VIP tables, house DJs—this late-night club has all the nightclub staples and has been drawing crowds for years. Keep tabs on the club's Twitter and Facebook pages for updates on theme nights.
646 N. Franklin St. 312-337-2191
This underground (literally) music venue and club is known for drawing big-name DJs, especially after summer music fests. Stop by on Sundays for Latin music.
220 W. Chicago Ave. 312-654-0234
Dance music fans will want to keep an eye out for the DJs scheduled here. Past performers include DJs Bad Boy Bill and Bob Sinclar and rapper Lil Jon. Table service is available if you want to rest those feet after dancing all night.
308 W. Erie St. 312-202-9221
When a club takes its name from a type of champagne, you can bet you'll see plenty of bubbly flowing behind the bar. Cuvee offers up the 'pagne by the glass, in regular and large-format bottles as well as mixed in cocktails.
226 W. Ontario St., 312-787-4480
Planning a bachelorette bash for a party-hard bride? Sound-Bar has you covered with express entry, a table reservation, bubbly and bottle service, all for a set fee. The dance-and DJ-focused club is also known for its Release Fridays party, where you'll be treated to the latest beats.
224 W. Ontario St. 312-274-1880
This house music-focused club—run by the same team as neighboring Sound-Bar and Crescendo—is on the small side, but that doesn't keep lines from forming most weekends.
The Underground
56 W. Illinois St. 312-644-7600
This military bunker-themed hangout is one of the few downtown clubs that also serves food, so you can soak up your bottle service with a few rounds of truffle oil-covered tater tots and filet mignon sliders.


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Analytical Liberalism, Neoclassical Realism, and the Need for Empirical Analyses
Mark R. Brawley
Two approaches currently enjoy widespread popularity among foreign policy analysts: Analytical Liberalism and Neoclassical Realism. On the surface, they seem remarkably similar. Both emphasize domestic factors, yet each claims to employ domestic variables in a distinct fashion. How do they differ? To answer that question, it would be helpful to reflect upon examples where scholars applying each approach have addressed the same case, allowing us to contrast their descriptions directly. Few such comparisons exist, however. Instead, as is apparent to even the casual observer, each approach fits neatly into its own niche. Neoclassical Realism appeals to scholars addressing security policy, whereas Analytical Liberalism dominates research in international political economy. Why would both approaches enjoy limited applicability? Here too, a direct comparison of their arguments might illuminate their comparative strengths and weaknesses. A review of how each approach works provides insight into their respective strengths and weaknesses. Under certain conditions, the key traits of the approaches can be revealed. These conditions identify a series of cases deserving closer empirical analysis, which would provide evidence concerning the relative utility of each approach.
Analytical Marxism
Nicholas Vrousalis
Marxists believe that an understanding of human society presupposes an understanding of the nature of the production of its material surplus and the nature of control over that surplus. This belief forms part of the "hard core" of the Marxist scientific research program. This hard core is complemented by a set of auxiliary hypotheses and heuristics, constituting what Imre Lakatos has called a scientific research program's "protective belt." The protective belt is a set of hypotheses protecting a research program's hard core. Over the past century and a half, Marxists have populated the protective belt with an economic theory, a theory of history, a theory of exploitation, and a philosophical anthropology, among other things. Analytical Marxism is located in Marxism's protective belt. It can be seen as a painstaking exercise in intellectual housekeeping. The exercise consists in replacing the tradition's antiquated, superfluous, or degenerate furnishings with concepts, methods, and auxiliary hypotheses from analytic philosophy and up-to-date social science.
The three most influential strands in analytical Marxism are, roughly: its reconstruction of Marx's theory of history, historical materialism; its philosophical anthropology, including the theory of freedom; and its theory of exploitation, including the theory of class.
Erica Frantz
Dictatorships have dominated global politics for hundreds of years, from the pharaohs of Egypt to the absolute monarchs of Europe. Though democracy has since spread to much of the world, about a third of today's countries are still ruled by dictatorship. And yet, compared to democracies, we know very little about how dictatorships work, who the key political actors are, and where decision-making powers lie. Political processes are opaque, and information is often intentionally distorted. Political survival depends not on maintaining the favor of voters, as in democracies, but on securing the backing of a considerably smaller coalition of supporters. The absence of a reliable third party to enforce compromises among key players means that power-sharing deals lack credibility and the threat of forced ouster is omnipresent. Uncertainty pervades authoritarian politics.
Modern autocrats respond to this uncertain environment in a variety of ways. They use political parties, legislatures, elections, and other institutions typically associated with democracies to lessen their risk of overthrow. Despite the façade of democracy, these institutions are key components of most autocrats' survival strategies; those that incorporate them last longer in power than those that do not. The specific ways in which autocratic institutions are used and the extent to which they can constrain leadership choices to prevent consolidation of power into the hands of a single individual, however, vary enormously from one dictatorship to the next. Better understanding the conditions that push autocracies down a path of collegial versus strongman rule remains a critical task, particularly given that the latter is associated with more war, economic mismanagement, and resistance to democratization.
Basic Income
Simon Birnbaum
The idea that states should provide a means-tested guaranteed minimum income for citizens who are unable to meet their basic needs is widely shared and has been a central component in the evolution of social citizenship rights in existing welfare states. However, an increasing number of activists and scholars defend the more radical option of establishing a universal basic income, that is, an unconditional income paid to all members of society on an individual basis without any means test or work requirement. Indeed, some political philosophers have argued that basic income is one of the most important reforms in the development of a just and democratic society, comparable to other milestones in the history of citizenship rights, such as universal suffrage or even the abolishment of slavery. Basic income or similar ideas, such as a basic capital or a negative income tax, have been advanced in many versions since the 18th century in different parts of the world and under a great variety of names. However, while these were previously often isolated and disconnected initiatives, basic income has more recently become the object of an increasingly cumulative research effort to shed light on the many aspects of this idea. It has also inspired policy developments and given rise to experiments and pilot projects in several countries.
Civil Disobedience and Conscientious Objection
William Smith and Kimberley Brownlee
Civil disobedience and conscientious objection are distinct but related social practices that display people's opposition to specific laws, policies, directives, or schemes. In general, these two practices arise from people's deeply held commitments. Civil disobedience is more overtly communicative and political than conscientious objection. Civil disobedience is also, almost by definition, a breach of law, which people engage in to push for changes in either governmental or nongovernmental practices. Conscientious objection, by contrast, does not always break the law: sometimes it is a legally protected form of nonconformity. It is also less overtly political than civil disobedience, stemming as it does from people's desire not to participate in practices they oppose, rather than from their ambition to change those practices. Both practices can be morally justified under specific conditions that, among other things, include doing only limited harm to other people. Moreover, under even more specific conditions, both practices could be said to be protected by moral rights. Civil disobedience and conscientious objection generate pressing normative and political challenges concerning the nature of the rule of law, respect for the rule of law, conditions for deliberative democracy, equality before the law, policing, adjudication, and punishment.
Comparative Political Regimes: Consensus and Majoritarian Democracy
Matthijs Bogaards
Ever since Aristotle, the comparative study of political regimes and their performance has relied on classifications and typologies. The study of democracy today has been influenced heavily by Arend Lijphart's typology of consensus versus majoritarian democracy. Scholars have applied it to more than 100 countries and sought to demonstrate its impact on no less than 70 dependent variables. This paper summarizes our knowledge about the origins, functioning, and consequences of two basic types of democracy: those that concentrate power and those that share and divide power. In doing so, it will review the experience of established democracies and question the applicability of received wisdom to new democracies.
Emily Zackin
The study of constitutionalism often begins with the question of what a constitution is. Sometimes the term refers to a single legal document with that name, but the term "constitution" may also refer to something unwritten, such as important political traditions or established customs. As a result, scholars sometimes distinguish between the "Big-C" constitution, that is, the constitutional document, and the "small-c" constitution, the set of unwritten practices and understandings that structure political life.
Constitutionalism is typically associated with documents and practices that restrict the arbitrary exercise of power. Most constitutions contain guarantees of rights and outline the structures of government. Constitutions are often enforced in court, but nonjudicial actors, like legislatures or popular movements, may also enforce constitutional provisions.
The relationship between democracy and constitutionalism is not at all straightforward, and it has received an enormous amount of scholarly attention. Constitutionalism seems to both undergird and restrain democracy. On the one hand, constitutions establish the institutions that allow for self-government. On the other, they are often said to restrict majoritarian decision-making.
Related to this question of the relationship between constitutionalism and democracy are questions about how constitutions change and how they ought to change. Can written constitutions change without changes to the text, and can judges bring about these changes? Do extratextual changes threaten or promote democracy?
Finally, not only do individual constitutions change, but the practice of writing constitutions and governing with them has also changed over time. In general, constitutions have grown more specific and flexible over time, arguably, allowing for a different kind of constitutional politics.
Contextualism in Normative Political Theory
Sune Lægaard
Contextualism denotes a set of ideas about the importance of attention to context. The topic of the article is contextualism in normative political theory/philosophy, in relation to the part of political theory concerned with systematic political argument for normative claims—evaluative claims about the legitimacy, justice, or relative goodness of acts, policies or institutions, and prescriptive claims about what we should do, which decision procedures we should follow, or how institutions should be reformed.
In terms of what counts as context, it denotes facts concerning particular cases that can be invoked to contextualize a specific object of political discussion such as a law, an institution, or the like.
Contextualism denotes any view that political theory should take context into account, but there are many different views about what this means. Contextualism can be characterized by way of different contrasts, which imply that the resulting conceptions of contextualism are views about different things, such as justification, the nature of political theory, or methodology.
Here the focus is on characterizations of contextualism in terms of methodology and justification that provide different views about what role context can play in political argument. In the course of doing this, a number of problems facing the different versions of contextualism are identified, including problems of reification and status quo bias, problems of securing that political theory is both critical and action guiding while still being contextualist, and the problem of delimiting the relevant context. Different ways of avoiding these problems are sketched. It is argued that there are forms of contextualism that can avoid the problems, but that these might not be as distinctive as some contextualists think. This also means that contextualism might, in fact, be a more common approach to political theory than sometimes suggested.
Frej Klem Thomsen
The conceptualization and moral analysis of discrimination constitutes a burgeoning theoretical field, with a number of open problems and a rapidly developing literature. A central problem is how to define discrimination, both in its most basic direct sense and in the most prominent variations. A plausible definition of the basic sense of the word understands discrimination as disadvantageous differential treatment of two groups that is in some respect caused by the properties that distinguish the groups, but open questions remain on whether discrimination should be restricted to concern only particular groups, as well as on whether it is best conceived as a descriptive or a moralized concept. Furthermore, since this understanding limits direct discrimination to cases of differential treatment, it requires that we be able to draw a clear distinction between equal and differential treatment, a task that is less simple than it may appear, but that is helpful in clarifying indirect discrimination and statistical discrimination. The second major problem in theorizing discrimination is explaining what makes discrimination morally wrong. On this issue, there are four dominant contemporary answers: the valuational and expressive disrespect accounts, which hold that discrimination is wrong when and if the discriminator misestimates or expresses a misestimate of the moral status of the discriminatee; the unfairness account, which holds that discrimination is wrong when and if the discriminator unfairly increases inequality of opportunity; and the harm account, which holds that discrimination is wrong when and if the discriminator harms the discriminatee. Each of these accounts, however, faces important challenges in simultaneously providing a persuasive theoretical account and matching our intuitions about cases of impermissible discrimination.
Equality and Political Philosophy
Iwao Hirose and Shlomi Segall
Equality is an undisputed political and moral value. But until quite recently, political philosophers have not fully explored its complexity. The literature on equality and egalitarianism is vast, complex, and multilayered—with over thirty-five years of philosophical discussion. Specifically, there are three major questions to ask about equality. First, what is equality? This question can be unpacked into two sub-questions. Distinguishing first between formal and distributive accounts of equality, we may ask what the currency of egalitarianism can be. The article goes through currencies such as welfare, resources, and capabilities, showing their respective strengths and weaknesses. A second important sub-question here is: what are the relevant scope and temporal dimensions of equality? Among whom is equality valuable, and precisely in what time frame is it valuable?
This hints at the second major question, namely concerning the value of equality. Is equality indeed valuable, or are we confusing it with some other value, be it giving priority to the worse-off, or lifting individuals above a certain threshold of deprivation? The article goes through some famous criticisms of equality's purported lack of value (e.g. the leveling down objection), explores some potential answers, and then examines the relative strength of equality's two main rivals, namely priority and sufficiency.
The third major question concerns what the proper account is of egalitarian justice. In particular, setting aside the question of currency, should our conception of distributive justice be informed by responsibility-sensitive accounts, or rather be focused on a responsibility-insensitive accounts that moreover place an emphasis on equality of relations rather than individuals' holdings? We explore this in the two final sections, one devoted to understanding luck egalitarianism, and the other to its rival, relational egalitarianism.
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