Biden Cabinet picks put private equity firm Pine Island in the spotlight
08 December 2020
Private equity firm Pine Island Capital Partners just hit the revolving door lottery, for better or for worse.
Driving the news: President-elect Joe Biden plans to nominate retired Gen. Lloyd Austin as defense secretary, less than five months after he joined Pine Island as a partner. It also comes after fellow Pine Island partner became Biden's secretary of state pick.
Why it matters: It's common for someone to leverage public sector experience in the private sector, or vice versa, but fairly unusual to go from top-level public to private and then back into top-level public service. At least for non-lawyers.
- One reason is that Biden is the first ex-VP since Nixon to return after an intermission.
As we previously reported, Pine Island was formed in 2018 by former CIT Group and Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain, former Goldman Sachs buyout big Phil Cooper, and ex-Coca-Cola exec Clyde Tuggle.
- It focuses on mid-market companies in a variety of sectors, including aerospace and defense, and so far has bought two companies via a fundless sponsor model and raised $200 million for a SPAC.
Between the lines: Pine Island obviously knew it was adding partners with D.C. influence, and was pretty explicit about it in the SPAC prospectus, but couldn't have predicted that two of its hires would end up among the next administration's four most powerful Cabinet posts.
From a D.C. cynicism perspective, Pine Island hit it out of the park.
- Sure a Sec. Austin would need to recuse himself from any related contracting or procurement decisions, but the historical relationship cannot be erased.
- And having friends in the highest of places could indirectly help Pine Island raise money or add portfolio companies.
On the other hand, some potential targets and investors might fret about the appearance of conflict, or being tied to a private equity firm that's likely to become a GOP boogeyman.
- The next Pine Island deal, if related to government, is almost certain to be on the N.Y. Times front page — the type of spotlight that many seek to avoid.
- Pine Island also may be the subject of disclosure fights during Senate confirmation hearings, including requests for the identities of its limited partners (such agreements often include nondisclosure agreements).
The bottom line: Pine Island's days as an under-the-radar upstart are over.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.