Those of us who appreciate irony (and how can one write about politics, business and the like if you don’t?) have been smiling all weekend about the $45 billion TXU buyout:
— Dallas’ Only Daily Newspaper didn’t just get scooped — it got hornswaggled. The deal not only involved Dallas and Fort Worth companies, but, according to the New York Times, the parties involved spent "weeks" huddled in the Gaylord working on the deal. A newspaper whose primary goal was news wouldn’t have missed that.
— How badly did TXU handle the business surrounding its 11 proposed coal plants? Texas Pacific and Kohlberg Kravis, hardly known as friends of the environment, look like tree-hugging, hybrid-driving pinkos in this deal.
— And how will the new owners make their money on the deal? Typically, private equity firms buy a company they see as undervalued, slash costs with layoffs and store closings to make revenue look better and then take it public again (paying themselves large fees in the process). How do you slash costs at a utility? This is going to be far different than doing buyouts of J. Crew, Burger King or Harrah’s, three other Texas Pacific targets.
