Iowa State University of Science & Technology, presented by Albaugh LLC.
Big 12 Considering $1B in Private Equity
- Thread starter AgronAlum
- Start date
Private equity only looks out for private equity, not the brands they own. My day to day is surrounded by public companies, privately held, and private equity firms. I’ve been a part of selling two companies as well as buying 4. There is a reason private equity is last resort for entities looking to be acquired. Public companies can be just as ruthless but not nearly as prevelany. Private equity you can always count on going scorched earth tactics to protect their investment. There is no negative blowback large enough or body count too high that would make private equity think twice of blowing things up on behalf of their investors.
Im being dramatic but this feels like the true first nail for the Big 12. Which is fine since college sports at the P4 level will implode on itself anyways.
Regardless, I don’t watch anymore, the last two years I’ve shifted to almost all NFL and NBA. This just continues that movement. This will also hurt donations IMO. My family are large donors and there is discussions ongoing within our family to leave bare minimum to protect parking spots and season tickets. Everything else will be moved out of athletics and into ISU and other colleges academic programs.
Im being dramatic but this feels like the true first nail for the Big 12. Which is fine since college sports at the P4 level will implode on itself anyways.
Regardless, I don’t watch anymore, the last two years I’ve shifted to almost all NFL and NBA. This just continues that movement. This will also hurt donations IMO. My family are large donors and there is discussions ongoing within our family to leave bare minimum to protect parking spots and season tickets. Everything else will be moved out of athletics and into ISU and other colleges academic programs.
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By definition, if you buy something, do stuff to it, and then sell it for way more than you paid... you're literally making it more valuable. If they "ruined" Safeway, how did they sell it for more and make a profit?You realize your article is about how good those acquisitions are for PE right? It’s awful for almost everyone they get involved with as it’s a Hail Mary pass that blows up in their faces. PE is single-handedly responsible for ruining many industries and orgs but they make a ton of cash. If the big 12 gets in with PE good luck being around in a decade.
Opinion | Private Equity Is Gutting America — and Getting Away With It (Published 2023)
Private equity firms make loads of money when their schemes succeed and lose very little when they fail.www.nytimes.com
The hard part is the "do stuff to it". That often means firing people, selling assets, etc. People don't like change, and its rough on those that get whacked. But some of these companies would have gone Chapter 11 otherwise, and then everyone gets whacked.
Trying to preserve struggling companies so they never have to change or do painful or difficult things is a recipe for disaster. How did you go bankrupt? Very slowly, and then all of a sudden.
You're not wrong about PE being very bad sometimes. I'm just arguing that it CAN be a good thing too.
My final comment on it is this fundamental of business:
ISU currently gets royalties from every John Deere combine sold. Naming the colleges in the university instead of just the buildings isn’t too far fetched!!!
Just loving the dimwits on twitter that are blaming the big 12 for "ruining" the college football just like they did when the corner 4 moved to the big 12 when we "killed the pac 12".
Gonna have to agree to disagree with you on this one.
And if you want a Safeway specific rebuttal:
Private Equity Firms Tried to Shoplift a Supermarket Chain Before Selling It. A Judge Just Stopped Them.
The Albertsons/Kroger merger tells you a lot about our cash-extractive economy.
Sorry if it has been discussed but I assume PE and the Big 12 will want a long term agreement (GOR). PE would be stuck if the conference implodes or some schools leave. I imagine Kansas and Utah would balk at agreeing to a long term deal.
Why Kansas? Also PE is never stuck, they will just plunder every penny they can find until they have had their fill.
Well we broke up the Pac12 after Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington jumped ship.
Honest question, as you aren’t the first person to say this the past year or so. What has changed in the past couple of years that made you stop watching Iowa State? I’m not trying to be snarky. Outside of some of the conference members changing and the players getting some money Iowa State Athletics is in large part the same as it was 5,10,15 years ago. We’re better, in fact.
Maybe you meant other conferences, if so, disregard.
I’ll still watch ISU, but not nearly as much as I used to. I’ll watch March Madness but not any other college events.
Performance of ISU on the floor/field has nothing to do with it. It’s just the overall experience has gotten so bad. So many commercial breaks, on field promotions, etc. It’s all just a non stop ad in person. I love watching in person but the games have just gotten too time consuming. Watching at home means I can at least do other things, which has just lead into doing other things instead of watching.
It’s also the non stop arms race. The constant “we need more money” as well. Now it’s “we need to fund our NIL, plus our coach needs an annual 1 mil raise”. All paid for by the fans while the conferences are out looking for more money just to blow it on coaches and facilities.
At least I’m not asked to donate to the owners in the NBA/NFL. It’s the best on field/court product by far and are actually functioning business models. I can support that vs the reckless spending and constant need for donations that college sports have become.
How is this different from Big 10 or SEC? I mean I guess you can wait for them to stick the dagger in.
Big 12 needs to dictate their future. If it fails it fails. But it is better than waiting for those 2 conferences to euthanize the Big 12
The Duke's Mayo Big 12 Conference really just rolls off the tongue. Having a mayo bath after every game surely won't get old.
It’s no different, hence why I said the P4 will self implode anyways.
Google search produced the following and there are countless other success stories. PE infusion has been around for a long time and it sure as hell would not have existed for this long if every PE deal went haywire as you suggest:
5 Leveraged Buyout Success Stories
Despite the risk and stigma attached to leveraged buyouts, they can have big payoffs for private equity firms. Here's 5 leveraged buyout success stories.
www.firmex.com
Private Equity Case Studies | Successful Deals | PreIPO®
Gain insights into the power of strategic investing from some of the most successful private equity deals in history. Join PreIPO® and start investing today.
www.preipo.com
What would 20% equity entail? That seems to be a big seat at the table, and likely allow PE to dictate quite a bit of decisions on how each school operates their athletic department.
Has this thread title changes 10 times today? Or just had a bunch of threads merged?
Maybe it should be “PE Big 12 thread brought to you by …”
Maybe it should be “PE Big 12 thread brought to you by …”
It's pretty small I think normally they like controlling interest.
Unless a bunch of schools sell out, it would be hard to get controlling interest I would think
Christ, talk about racist. . . . How can Black American men not be wildly offended by this?
