Private equity deals are good for the environment! Who knew?
(What's the catch here? Did these guys just buy a lot of positive press coverage with no substance? Or is there a long-term strategy here?) http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/yourmoney/chi-0702270280feb27,0,4125299.column -------------------------------------------snip Investors concerned about the environment were treated on Monday to a Wall Street version of this concept. Megabuck buyout firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Texas Pacific Group agreed to acquire TXU, the Texas-based energy giant, for $45 billion. The deal, valued at $69.25 per TXU share, would be the biggest private-equity acquisition of a publicly traded company. ............. But, a day after Al Gore's film about global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth," won an Academy Award, the TXU story is much bigger than what amount shareholders will receive. The transaction was fashioned in cooperation with environmentalists. "Victory in Texas," cheered a press release by Environmental Defense. "Today is a truly historic day in the fight against global warming." The Natural Resources Defense Council crowed, "Outside advocates help engineer course change toward clean, efficient vision; bold move signals beginning of the end for old-style coal investment in U.S." -raghu.
