Last night, make that early in the morning here in Beijing, I received a pleasant phone call. The lady identified herself as working for a large and reputable German newspaper. We exchanged German pleasantries, as much as they exist. Then she said: “You wrote about RHJ, Ripplewood and Opel? Do you know anything about Tim Collins’ connections?” I confessed that I know of a recording artist named Collins, but his first name is Phil.
“TIM Collins, the owner of Ripplewood,” she said. “Sorry, never met the guy” was my answer. She says: “Okay, maybe I have to dig around his old compatriots myself.” With these words, she bid me ta-ta.
This was not the first time I had received one of those calls. Usually, after a juicy installment of the Porsche/Piech soap, people call me and say they are from some news organization. They usually want my sources. On the off-chance that they may be plumbers looking for a leak, I usually refer them to people I don’t particularly like: “Maybe he knows something.”
This lady sounded different. She was a professional journalist. So this morning, I fire up my laptop and peruse the big disintermediator of investigative journalism: Google.
Wait, before I google through gadzillions of pages, a quick glance at Reuters: “Merkel back’s Magna’s Opel bid” it says here. On the occasion of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Munich, Germany, Angela said that except for some minor issues that need cleaning up, “the Magna concept offers excellent starting points. It offers Opel a chance and also creates the possibility of establishing a strategic partnership in the car sector with Russia.” Medvedev was pleased to hear it. A rare endorsement straight from the top, even before the final bids are in? Sure looks like a slam-dunk to this reporter.
The other bidder, Ripplewood/RHJ, appears to be in deep doo-doo. Their plan to grab Opel and as much government money as possible, close some plants, fire some workers, and then sell a squeaky-clean Opel back to GM got out too early. The states where Opel has factories basically told Ripplewood/RHJ to take a hike. Germany’s central government echoed the notion. Message as follows: If GM sells its European car business to anyone other than Magna International Inc., then Germany might (make that: definitely will) withdraw its offer of state aid. 10-4?
To my utter amazement, today’s Reuters also carries the headline: “RHJ offers $388 million for Opel stake.” The article reveals that RHJ has the nerve to offer chump change to the sad tune of €275m for a 50.1 percent stake in General Motors’ Opel business. They also offer “production cutbacks and pay cuts for staff.” RHJ’s spreadsheet “sees Opel posting a positive cash flow before funding of €1b by 2011.” (Outline of RHJ’s plan here. It won’t sit well in Belgium, Spain and the U.K.)
$388m for a majority of Opel? I beg your pardon? That’s all they’ve got? China’s Geely wants to shell out $2b for tiny Volvo! And what’s with “before funding?” For RHJ, there won’t be any funding from the lender of last resort, the German taxpayer, that has just been made abundantly clear.
I nearly had forgotten about last night’s call.
I never cared before to look behind the curtain of RHJ, they were a dark horse which nobody took seriously. The Germans have an ingrained aversion against strip-and-flip private equity houses. Too many companies were stripped naked, flipped over and left dead. RHJ was a sideshow. Car guys want to deal with car guys. RHJ has been told to scram, there will be no government support for them, and NOW they are back with a $388m charitable donation? (They need a public handout worth several billions. Their plan is mute on that topic.)
Who ARE those people? RHJ is one of a bunch of companies owned by Ripplewood Holdings LLC, a New York private equity firm. It owns companies such as Interstate Bakeries Corp. and good old Reader’s Digest (good luck with that.) RHJ International is based in Belgium, they have investments in a number of companies. Ripplewood was founded 1995 by Tim Collins, after he had left Lazard, one of the world’s largest investment banks.
Tim Collins is one of the few people who publicly acknowledge that they are a member of the Trilateral Commission. Tim Collins is also reported as a frequent attendee at the secretive Bilderberg conferences.
“Trilateral Commission” and “Bilderberg” makes many true blue Americans grab their guns, head for the hills, and scan the skies for black helicopters.
Before you brand me as a total nutjob, the Trilateral Commission and the Bilderberg Group actually do exist. Whether they own black helicopters, I don’t know.
Now guess who is also listed as a Bilderberger? Steven Rattner, the recently departed head of the Presidential Task Force On Autos. So is Timothy Geithner by the way, he was seen at the recent Bilderberg meeting in Athens, Greece, in May.
Collins and Rattner have more in common than rubbing shoulders at meetings that give plain people New World Order nightmares. Collins and Rattner were colleagues at Lazard. Rattner joined Lazard in 1989 as General Partner. Collins was Vice President at Lazard from 1984 to 1990. Both are listed at Statemaster.com as “notable employees” of Lazare.
Was that what the nice lady meant when she recommended to dig around old compatriots?
Let’s back up to May: When Opel was put up for bid in May, it was the Magna v.v. Fiat show. Car guys. The day before the bids were to be surrendered in Berlin, Bloomberg suddenly floated Ripplewood/RHJ. RHJ handed in a surprise bid. It was ignored. After a spat in Berlin that nearly caused a diplomatic incident, Fiat dropped out and Magna was declared winner pro tem. Then, as the negotiations bogged down, the bidding was open again.
Speaking of Bloomberg: The New York Times says that Rattner “is friends with the mayor of New York City, Michael R. Bloomberg, and Quadrangle manages the mayor’s personal fortune.”
In the meantime, pension funds in New York and New Mexico are unhappy. Accusations involving Quadrangle were included in an S.E.C. complaint.
Bloomberg’s report on the German/Russian meeting downplayed Merkel’s magnanimous Magna endorsement to a “We’ll express our support for this deal.” If you are a conspiracist, you could make the case that Bloomberg is more sympathetic to RHJ than to Magna.
Want more conspiracy? Google “Trilateral Commission” “Bilderberg” “Steven Rattner” “Tim Collins” So why couldn’t the nice lady on the phone do that herself?
Question to the Best & Brightest: Which plan will GM recommend? Magna or RHJ? Which plan will Berlin accept? Any dark choppers?
So it’s coming down to a Belgian Private Equity Firm acting as a front for the Wall Street Trilateralists v. Magna acting as a front for the Russian Mob?
After the events of the past 12 months, I’d go with the Russian Mob. They’re more reputable than Wall Street.
One more detail:
I think they are all connected to Kevin Bacon.
and why would the new world order people give a damn about Opel?
This anti-government psychosis is prior anti government conspiracy theorist propaganda mixed with with past racist propaganda.
A Black man is president and a Hispanic woman is about to WALTZ into the Supreme Court due to the absolute absense of viable opposition and then you have conservative sensationalist media fanning “anti White reverse racist” sentiment.
Suddenly people are “teabagging” in flash mobs and refusing to go to war because they are 100% certain Obama isn’t a natrual born American citizen.
WHY?
Because someone with Windows vista Movie Maker and a youtube account told them so.
I prefer my helicoptors in flat grey thank you.
Magna. Since when were Russian mobsters not welcome to do business in Germany?
and why would the new world order people give a damn about Opel?
Because it’s not about Opel, per se. It’s about money, power and alliances.
I’m not a conspiracy nut, in fact most times I just laugh when someone brings this type of stuff up. But I do find it a bit more than coincidental that all of these guys run in the same very small, very powerful circles….
Spot on Bertil. Ripplewood, famous for taking over a Japanese bank about 10 years ago and actually asking customers to pay their loans. Not popular there. Then they bought electronics specialist Denon, persuaded Philips to sell Marantz to Denon, and sold out in the end. Did a good job there, no complaints. Denon is now known as D & M Holdings.
Next up, they tried to buy Maytag, but got outbid. Ripplewood’s really a US company, even if headquartered in Brussels. However, compared to Cerberus, they seem relatively benign, from my viewpoint in the electronics industry anyway. I’m sure they’ve been active since the Maytag thing.
Thought Collins originally worked at Caterpillar, but maybe that was his principal partner. Haven’t googled it today. Intrigue.
Especially as these Binderberg people seem to be the folks who want a single North American currency, and who get Lou Dobb’s knickers in a twist every so often.
You know, if you drink enough Tom Collinses, it makes it easier to channel Hunter S. Thompson.
Tim Collins?
Oh.
Nevermind.
Monday:
FRANKFURT -(Dow Jones)- General Motors Corp.’s (GMGMQ) European division said Friday its parent has requested final offers for the core Opel/Vauxhall brands to be submitted by the close of business Monday.
“Once received, analyzed and compared, the final bids as well as GM’s preliminary findings will then be reviewed with the German and other impacted governments, the E.U. Commission and the Opel/Vauxhall Trust Board,” GM Europe said in a statement.
The company added that it has been in negotiations since May with Magna International Inc., RHJ International SA (RHJI.BT) and Beijing Automotive Industry Corp.
“Tim Collins’ connections?”
Make sure they use good gin (I’m a Tanqueray man myself) and real lemon juice, not that powdered crap.
the devil’s greatest trick is making people believe he doesn’t exist.
Now it takes a German woman to kick the Wall Street pigmen in the nutz.
Go Angela !!!!!!
Maybe it’s true. Maybe THEY are out there pulling strings, and manipulating world currencies and politics. Maybe they DID buy Lenin’s ticket out of Germany when things began to get hot, and perhaps they also engineered the rise of the NWO.
At the same time, when the most powerful man in the free world, the President of the United States, isn’t able to hide a hummer (not the capital H type) from the press (I did not have sex with that women), how can anyone hide anything for very long?
Maybe they DID buy Lenin’s ticket out of Germany when things began to get hot, and perhaps they also engineered the rise of the NWO.
Well, Jacob Schiff did finance Lev Bronstein/Leon Trotsky…
“You’d be paranoid too if everyone was out to get you”
So if Germany is putting up cash, why does Opel have to be sold to anyone? Make Opel independent. Same goes for Daewoo and Korea.
Bilderbergers are just another rich mans country club, except it is for men who don’t have the athletic skills to play golf.
Seen on bumper stickers:
“Just because you are paranoid, does not mean they are not out to get you. ”
“I was going to go to work today, but the voices told me to stay home and clean my guns. “
The POTUS is not necessarily the most powerful man on earth.
Hmmm. The piece made it to the Wallstreet Journal. Oddly, it is filed under obama.wsj.com .
Also, USA Today picked it up. Oddly, filed under “Beijing.” And they are intrigued by the Russian angle.
The pot sickens.
Maybe they DID buy Lenin’s ticket out of Germany when things began to get hot
Mpresley: That Lenin was brought out of Swiss exile and ferried to Russia, on the so-called “sealed train” courtesy of Germany, in 1917 is a historical fact. The German Reich fought War One on two fronts and wanted the eastern front to self-destruct. Kindof worked, but as we all know, it backfired badly.