Private v Public

I had been mulling over the dangers of massive buy outs of public companies by private equity firms, and what effect this would have on transparency, accountability, and so on.
Thinking about how this was the way that a select few were going to take over the world, and what not.
All very plausible I must add :)
And then Blackstone go and do this!!!

Blackstone files for $4 billion IPO

Adam Lashinsky notes:

What's so amusing about Blackstone going public is that it pretty much makes a mockery of all the arguments about why it's better to be private.

Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman

It's almost too perfect.

The leading practitioner of the going-private transaction, the technique that removes public companies from the supposedly destructive glare of nitpicking shareholders and obstructionist regulators, is subjecting itself to this most heinous scrutiny.

Under the heading "We Intend to be a Different Kind of Public Company," Blackstone writes: "We have built a leading global alternative asset management and financial advisory firm that has achieved success and substantial growth. While we believe that becoming a publicly traded company will provide us with many benefits, it is our intention to preserve the elements of our culture that have contributed to our success as a privately-owned firm."

Blackstone says this means it will ignore short-term results and instead focus on long-term investments.

The investors in its funds are what really matters, it suggests, and investors in the management company - which is what is going public - will have to live with that reality.

There's both a commendable logic and laughable self-righteousness to the statement.

Whatever one's views, I guess for the conspiracy theorists, another conspiracy is going to have to be formulated!!

Meanwhile on the local front as our NSE index hits the doldrums, and the retail players run for cover, the Eveready's of the bourse are probably scratching their heads and wondering what ever inspired them to go public in the first place.