earleygallery Posted November 17, 2011 Share #181 Posted November 17, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) I said in another thread, Leica could look at the Lomo strategy of offering film as well as processing/scanning services via their stores. Leica are apparently planning to open thousands of Leica stores over the coming years. What better way to serve their film customers and strengthen the sales potential of the film M cameras, as well as attracting new customers and increasing footfall into the stores. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted November 17, 2011 Posted November 17, 2011 Hi earleygallery, Take a look here Blackstone. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
lit-photography08 Posted November 21, 2011 Share #182 Posted November 21, 2011 I'm not sure that Blackstone is the investor, as the release states funds wille acqui a stake and they are advised by Blackstone. Yes, I agree it's really confused me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ho_co Posted December 5, 2011 Share #183 Posted December 5, 2011 With regard to the entities we've called "Lisa" and "Blackstone," here's a list of the current Leica controling concerns: (i) BCP Lisa Luxembourg S.à r.l., Luxemburg, (ii) BCP Lisa Cayman Ltd., George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman-Inseln, (iii) Blackstone Capital Partners (Cayman II) VI L.P., George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman-Inseln, (iv) Blackstone Management Associates (Cayman) VI L.P., George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman-Inseln, (v) BCP VI GP L.L.C., Wilmington, Delaware, USA, (vi) Blackstone Holdings III L.P., Montréal, Québec, Canada, (vii) Blackstone Holdings III GP L.P., Wilmington, Delaware, USA, (viii) Blackstone Holdings III GP Management L.L.C., Wilmington, Delaware, USA, (ix) The Blackstone Group L.P., Wilmington, Delaware, USA, (x) Blackstone Group Management L.L.C., Wilmington, Delaware, USA, (xi) Herr Stephen A. Schwarzman, USA. Looks like a complicated ownership structure. Source of this list is the notice of mandatory offer for outstanding shares (in German language) at Das Anlegerportal Unsere Information Ihr Gewinn - boersen-zeitung.de. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted December 5, 2011 Share #184 Posted December 5, 2011 Howard, This is a not untypical structure for a private equity deal. The whole thing is layered through a series of offshore and Delaware pseudo offshore SPV's (Special Purpose Vehicles). The principle purpose of this is to enable any profits or capital gains to be recognised in a minimal or nil tax environment. Any losses of course will be parked in a high tax environment, where they can either be used against future earnings or sold on. It is only us poor mugs who actually pay our taxes. No wonder the proletariat are up in arms. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
k_g_wolf ✝ Posted December 6, 2011 Share #185 Posted December 6, 2011 It might not be untypical, bit it simply is SICK, JUST SICK. This system is the cancer of any serious business ... They are even fighting wars to put this rubbish through. best GEORG Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted December 6, 2011 Share #186 Posted December 6, 2011 They don't even use real money - they just enter a number with an arbitrary number of zeroes into a computer and shift it into another account.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alberti Posted December 6, 2011 Share #187 Posted December 6, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) Working with PE is like Russian Roulette . Talk about putting the future at risk. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted December 6, 2011 Share #188 Posted December 6, 2011 At least in the west, we use the courts and lawyers to settle disputes. A friend of mine was the chairman of a medium sized advertising agency. They had opened an office in Moscow, as a joint venture with a Russian private equity group. At the end of the first year, two thugs arrived in the office to collect the PE group's share of the first year's profits, which were a few million roubles. They explained clearly that only cash would be acceptable and that unless they got it within an hour, someone was going to get shot. They were not joking. A series of rapid phone calls ensued between London head office and Barclays Bank in Moscow and a one hour extension was negotiated with the two thugs. The cash dividend was delivered by security truck just in time to prevent a shooting. At a subsequent meeting with the principals of the PE company, there was some puzzlement on their side, as to why this episode had been perceived as anything other than normal business practice. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted December 6, 2011 Share #189 Posted December 6, 2011 Well, it keeps business practises on the straight and narrow....I guess. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjh Posted December 6, 2011 Share #190 Posted December 6, 2011 At a subsequent meeting with the principals of the PE company, there was some puzzlement on their side, as to why this episode had been perceived as anything other than normal business practice. And I suppose it is – in Russia. I wouldn’t do business there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alberti Posted December 24, 2011 Share #191 Posted December 24, 2011 I read the interview with Kaufmann in LFI and well, it does sound assuring and convincing too (the stick to the expansion strategy). Nice pictures by the way, I like the second one too (the slightly mocking face above the LEICA mock-up). albert Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wda Posted December 24, 2011 Share #192 Posted December 24, 2011 I read the interview with Kaufmann in LFI.... I like the second one too (the slightly mocking face above the LEICA mock-up). albert Just seen it. A deliberate teaser? The disguise seems fairly amateurish! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alberti Posted December 25, 2011 Share #193 Posted December 25, 2011 Could be a first sign of a X-2: M-bayonet on a mirrorless body, EV on top, internally almost like an X-1 . . A resonse to the Sony NEX7? albert Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjh Posted December 25, 2011 Share #194 Posted December 25, 2011 Just seen it. A deliberate teaser? The disguise seems fairly amateurish! A D-Lux 5 as far as I can tell. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ho_co Posted December 26, 2011 Share #195 Posted December 26, 2011 Haven't we seen that camera before? At the introduction of the M9 titanium, perhaps? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjh Posted December 26, 2011 Share #196 Posted December 26, 2011 Haven't we seen that camera before? At the introduction of the M9 titanium, perhaps? Either on that occasion or at the introduction of the M9-P. We have definitely seen it before. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olsen Posted December 26, 2011 Share #197 Posted December 26, 2011 I have not had time to read the LFI article (on the Blackstone entrance of 45% ownership) and dwell on it's implications. Before now. I am worried that this is 'not good'. I have been a businessman my whole life. One of the most disturbing developments I have witnessed is the occurrence of the many 'private equity firms' and what they do to jobs/employment and to great companies. - I am glad that I now am retiring. A few comments on some items of the article: 'Financial investors occupy undisputed space on the business landscape'. Chew on that sentence for a while: What do we need 'financial investors' for, really...? Aren't they just greedy thieves? - I fully agree with Franz Münterfering (ex. leader of the social democrats in Germany) when he refers to the 'private equity firms as 'locusts into the industrial landscape'. 'Now the locust has migrated to Solms'. - So well put... According to BVK (German Private equity and Venture Capital Associations) around 5500 German companies are 'receiving' investments from German as well as international investors. Æhum. Receiving...? That is the point with these locusts. They are bloodsuckers. First they weigh in heavily on the cost side of the annual reports by demanding 'their costs' covered for meaningless 'advice' or for 'being members of the board'. As we see from ho_co's post above: The money goes directly to Cayman Islands. What's left of money for developing the M-series then? The American company Blackstone is, supposedly, going to be a resource for Leica in establishing itself in the Chinese market. - What a lot of hogwash! Germany is one of the leading exporters - to China. Leica can easily find far better Chinese export experience within Germany. Than be dependant on a flock of Wall Street guys. What would they know about a communist country, anyway..? And why not call one of the many Chinese consultant companies with excellently educated Chinese experts...? I look at this picture of Andreas Kaufmann: He looks nervous. No wonder. He is about to go to bed with an anaconda. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ho_co Posted December 26, 2011 Share #198 Posted December 26, 2011 You raise good issues with venture capital. But I was reassured by the LFI article. To me, it sounds as if Dr Kaufmann is pretty much calling the shots. With time, we'll all know the outcome. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olsen Posted December 26, 2011 Share #199 Posted December 26, 2011 Andreas Kaufmann (ACM) is still holding the 'majority stake' in the company. He has invited Blackstone in because he 'don't want any bank to interfere in his strategy'. The more I read of this, the more puzzled I get... And worried.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olsen Posted December 31, 2011 Share #200 Posted December 31, 2011 Looking through the largest shareholders of Leica's competitors I register significant changes just in the last 3 years. The huge Japanese banks have reduced their share of Canon and Morgan Stanley have increased their share drastically. I can't say that this is an advantage for Canon and it's customers either. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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