Bad news seems to be filtered through the media if at all possible on Friday afternoons or before big holidays. The Bush Administration is genius at ushering through all the bad news on Fridays as are some public companies. So, I found it somewhat peculiar that Blackstone Group's buyout of Hilton Hotels - a very big news item for Private Equity and Wall Street in general was released on Tuesday July 3rd.
With Congress debating the validity of their tax structure and PE firms cashing out in the public marketplace it seems interesting that this week there were an usual amount of deals mentioned. It is generally accepted that Private Equity has had an underlying "bid" on the market for the past few years. They have enjoyed the press on the way in but shun any sort of public scrutiny thereafter. Now that Blackstone is a public company, much more in the public eye than before, the timing of the Hilton deal signals a desire to stay out of the public spotlight as much as possible. Other smaller deals such as Barney's and even the BCE acquisition (although not PE it was announced over the weekend), seem to be avoiding as much "publicness" as possible.
The Hilton deal has very public connections as well - with Paris Hilton the main attraction of the circus that has been mainstream media of the past few years. Maybe it is me reading too far into this or maybe they are trying to get business done in the public arena but at the same time avoiding public interaction as much as possible - akin to having a one-night stand with a coworker, then avoiding them at all costs around the water cooler because you know it's a one night stand - but your coworker has different ideas on your intentions.
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