| Is it time to reassess private equity
So much opprobrium has been heaped on private equity in the past few months that it would not be surprising if it were blamed for the decline of English cricket or the outcome of the French presidential elections. But far from justifying this hostility, three big recent deals suggest instead it is time for a reassessment of the buyout industry. .
24 Seconds With Warriors Center Adonal Foyle
Q: You're known as one of the most socially involved players in the league. What would you like to step into after basketball? A: I'm doing my master's in sports psychology. I like to interact with people. But politics ... I don't have any hair to begin with. To turn gray? It seems like there's a trend. You get old really quickly when you go into politics. I've been watching. It doesn't seem like a very good trend. Q: Did you have to study to become a citizen, or was it things you had basically known anyway from going to Colgate? A: I studied. It was things that you don't really pay attention to. When I was at Colgate, we did watershed moments. We didn't really do dates, battles and facts and all those sorts of things. You look at it, and you're like, Man, this should be easy.
A plan to exclude competitive bidding
I see from the front-page article of March 23rd of Net News that a plan was devised to exclude competitive bidding from the largest building project ever undertaken by the Caymanian Islands Government. If you only have one company submitting a price, which I have now come to understand has been accepted, in no way can that be construed as competitive. Here again, the whole system of bids being considered by Government is brought into question. Further proof of Governments way of doing business as usual. This certainly smacks of the tainted MC Restoration debris clean up and latterly Scrap Removal bids. If you are building a house, you decide on the basic floor plan, layout, size and in conjunction with professionals like Architects, Engineers, Designers and other construction specialists you decide on the quality of the structure, elevations, finishes, etc.
Auction could rattle the media sector
A potential auction for phone giant BCE Inc. could have implications for the media industry, opening up the possibility of a $1.6-billion to $2.4-billion public offering of shares in Quebecor Media Inc., a cable and television powerhouse in the province of Quebec. Shares of Montreal-based Quebecor Inc., which owns 55% of Quebecor Media, shot up 8% yesterday to a 52-week high after it emerged the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec is among a group of investors involved in discussions with BCE about a possible privatization. The Caisse also owns a 45% stake in Quebecor Media -- a major cable and phone rival of BCE -- and its participation in privatizing BCE "could create a conflict," said Jeffrey Fan, an analyst at UBS in Toronto. .
Pre-wireless spectrum auction manoeuvring
OTTAWA — As reporters arrived at the Château Laurier hotel ballroom last week where Quebecor Inc. chief executive Pierre Karl Péladeau was set to deliver a speech on the wireless industry — and announce possible plans for his media company to jump into the fast-growing market — officials from the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association were waiting. They handed out a 16-page critique of a recent report published by telecom consultancy SeaBoard Group that said Canada's wireless adoption, at 58%, was a “national disgrace" compared with other industrialized nations, and that Canadians pay roughly 56% more for their cellphone service than Americans do. SeaBoard said increased competition would likely drive down cellphone bills and boost cellphone penetration, and as a result recommended that Ottawa reserve spectrum space for a new wireless competitor.
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