Updates Are Us: Planes and Ports
Regarding Much Ado About ... Planes, I've subsequently found an analysis that tracks the different media outlets, blogs, websites and forums that perpetuated the myth that Speaker Pelosi had requested a party plane. Like me, he starts with the Washington Times. However, although I stopped there, he didn't.
What makes this story doubly repugnant, in my view, is that this week the third ranking Republican in the House, Adam Putnam, 32, told the Tampa Tribune that he pushed the story even though he didn't know if it was true or false.
And that he'd do it again because it got the media fixed on a Republican talking point:
"This was a classic case where the media got out in front of us," Putnam said. "Did we jump on it? Yes."
And he is unapologetic about that. He calls the Pelosi plane story, whatever its legitimacy, "the first break [Republicans] have had from the media in driving our message since before the Mark Foley story broke."
A new low in political opportunism.
About DP World
After AIG - DP World took their private beef with the Port Authority (PA) to the streets with a press release, the PA hit back. And then ... détente. AIG agreed to $10 million in compensation for improvements and $40 million in future investments in the port in Newark, New Jersey.
According to a spokesman for the Port Authority, until the public falling out, AIG had not "committed to a specific number:"
What we were looking for all along was a payment in part recognizing the public investment the Port Authority has put into the terminal, which is what the $10 million number is, and the commitment to capital investments, which is the $40 million.
The terms of the DP World / AIG deal from December remain under wraps. AIG is the world's largest insurer; the AIG Global Investment Group has $670 billion in assets. It is composed of "a group of international companies which provide investment advice and market asset management products and services to clients around the world."
DP World is headquartered in in Dubai and controls 51 port terminals in 24 countries including China, Australia, Germany and Venezuela. The firm, created in September 2005, grew out of Dubai Ports Authority (DPA), which was formed in 1999.
DPA bought CSX World Terminals from the Carlyle Group for $1.15 billion in late 2004. Carlyle bought CSX World Terminals for $300 million in 2003. Quite a return on investment, that. Especially since the United Arab Emirates -- which owns DP World -- "is a major investor" in Carlyle. And former Bush Treasury Secretary John Snow was chairman of CSX before joining the Bush Administration; the DPA sale came after he left the firm for Washington, DC.
Comments
How close in time was Snow’s departure and the sale of CSX? I’m sure deals like that don’t develp overnight. CSX is one of the major freight rail lines in the US and leases most of its track on the Eastern seaboard to Amtrak. I’m sure there must be regulatory hurdles to overcome before that kind of deal could go through. As Sec. of Commerce, wouldn’t Snow have a role in the approval of foreign acquisitions of such highly regulated industries as rail? And Carlyle Group is the international finance organization that employs Bush Sr. as a consultant.
I don’t subscribe to conspiracy theories about hidden world governments, but the closeness and interconnectedness of this administration with those who are profiting from current catastrophes and disasters makes it very hard not to see movement in shadows.
Hi, Evano:
There was approximately one year between his departure and the finalized sale.
And yes, Snow was on the FISA board that approved P&O sale to DP World … it was that sale that erupted into a firestorm in February 2006… and that led DP World to divest itself of P&O’s US operations (at the end of the gun that is Congress).
Carlyle Group is enmeshed in this in so many ways (that have been made public). I’ve seen no explanation for the tremendous increase in value for a less-than-two-year “holding” of a property. Would love to see one, if anyone can find an analysis.
Hi,
As for the appreciation of the terminal value, it is a very hot topic at the moment in the port industry. When DPI (the previous name of DPW) bought UK’s P&O Ports, many were astonished by the price paid. It was many times more than the valuation of the company by traditional means. But in the last two years, many other terminal operators have been bought for prices which were completely unheard off. Actually, the price published by DPW and AIG for the current sales is seen as relatively average by industry analysts.
But you can compare with the sales of ABP (another UK operator) which was also a very expensive bill, the acquisition of Apapa terminal by AP Moller (Denmark), the acquisition of 20% of Hutchison Port Holding (China) portfolio by PSA (Singapore) or even the acquisition of the operations in Halifax… All of these defied the highest estimates by non-specialized market analysts.
There is a buying spree in the terminal market, and the US terminal sales is only exceptional because of the political interferences, not because of the amounts involved.