Private Funds Prepare To Lobby

[cal04]

Equity Firms Merge To Fight Regulation
Some top private-equity funds have joined to form a lobbying organization to head off potential regulation.

The funds have become some of the most active purchasers of U.S. corporations, pooling money from private investors and companies and augmenting those sums with loads of debt. More than 28 percent of the dollar value of acquisitions announced in the United States this year involved private-equity firms, up from 3 percent five years ago, according to Dealogic.

The new organization, the Private Equity Council, is backed by such leaders in the burgeoning business of company buyouts as Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. Douglas Lowenstein, president of the Entertainment Software Association, which represents the U.S. video game industry, will head the trade association.

The move is the latest effort by the financial services industry to bolster its presence in Washington. The association that represents hedge funds, the Managed Funds Association, recently added to its staff, and the Securities Industry Association and the Bond Market Association merged this year to form what they hope will be a more influential lobby. The combined organization is the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, or SIFMA.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/26/AR2006122600864.html

[Mind_your_head]

1. Wow.....a wholly open statement about how hard/what lengths

lobbyists will go to to buy/acquire votes for their 'cause du jour'???

democracy you say???? :wtf: