Ken Mehlman - Blog Posts

Private Equity has a new Lobbyist: Ken Mehlman

Ken Mehlman former head of the RNC and the public affairs chief at KKR is now the top lobbyist for the private equity industry. Mr. Mehlman was elected on Thursday to be the chairman of The Private Equity Growth Capital Council.

PEGCC is the most prominent advocacy group for equity and capital firms such as TPG Capital, Silver Lake, Apollo Global Management, Carlyle Group and Blackstone Group. PEGCC was launched in 2007 and is currently being run by president and chief executive officer Steve Judge. Mehlman is succeeding Mark Tresnowski in this position. Tresnowski was a top lawyer for Madison Dearborn Partners.

“As a member of the PEGCC’s Board of Directors, Ken has long been a driving force behind our major initiatives,” said Steve Judge, PEGCC President and CEO. “We’re very pleased to have him as our new chairman. Ken is a unique talent with two decades of experience at the highest levels of government, politics and business. The PEGCC and our members will benefit tremendously from his leadership, advice and counsel.” 

Mr Mehlman's primary responsibilities will be to help expand the PEGCC's outreach as well as educate and engage stakeholders about the value of the private equity industry. At KKR Mr. Mehlman has had a large role in formalizing KKR's outreach efforts including creating robust environmental, social and governance programs for the firms and its portfolio companies. 

“I’m privileged to succeed Mark as Chairman of the PEGCC,” said Mr. Mehlman. “I have enormous respect for the PEGCC’s important work engaging with public policy makers to encourage more economic growth and retirement security for millions of Americans. I also share the PEGCC’s goal of building a community of investors who seek superior returns while also emphasizing active, responsible governance, long term investment and measuring success in years not quarters.

“I would personally like to thank Mark for his invaluable contributions and leadership for PEGCC and the industry as a whole throughout his tenure as Chairman,” said Steve Judge, PEGCC President and CEO. “From our many legislative battles over carried interest and the Dodd-Frank Act to the 2012 presidential election that brought our industry into the national spotlight, Mark provided the PEGCC with exceptional leadership."

KKR and Panasonic Agree on a Price

Earlier in the month we wrote about the announcement of the Panasonic health sale to private equity firm KKR. The sale has now been finalized, KKR will own 80% of the Panasonic healthcare unit for a price of $1.67 billion an Panasonic will hold the remaining 20%. Panasonic has lost more than $7 billion a year for the last two years on their healthcare unit. The chief executive of Panasonic when asked about his thoughts on KKR said, "We believe that partnering with K.K.R will also allow us to learn from K.K.R.'s global operational and business management expertise as we pursue the next stage of growth for Panasonic." KKR's founder Henry Kravis said in a statement that Japan was, "a very important and attractive market for K.K.R., and our experienced tam on the ground in Japan looks forward to leveraging KKR's Global expertise experience." Other notable leaders on KKR's global team include former General David Petraeusand former RNC Chairman Kenneth Mehlman.

http://aclassasset.blogspot.com/2013/10/kkr-and-panasonic-agree-on-price.html

Public Figures to Private Equity

"I hope that we, as a party, would welcome gay and lesbian supporters. I also think there needs to be, in the gay community, robust and bipartisan support [for] marriage rights."

Republican LGBT political advocate Ken Mehlman

Former Bush aide now top private equity lobbyist

Ken Mehlman, the public affairs chief at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. who was previously a leading Republican operative in Washington, is now the top lobbyist for the private equity industry.

Mehlman was elected Thursday as the chairman of The Private Equity Growth Capital Council, the most prominent industry advocacy group for firms like TPG Capital, Silver Lake, Apollo Global Management, Carlyle Group and Blackstone Group.

He will continue several long-running fights in Washington, including higher taxes for PE firms from a potential change in the treatment of carried interest and increased registration and disclosure rules from the Dodd-Frank Act.

Mehlman succeeds Mark Tresnowski, the top lawyer for Madison Dearborn Partners. PEGCC, launched in 2007, is also led day-to-day by president and chief executive officer Steve Judge.

Mehlman joined KKR in 2008 from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, where he was a partner in the law firm's legislative and regulatory counseling practice. He is best known for his work on behalf of conservative politicians before: chairing the Republican National Committee and running George W. Bush's presidential reelection campaign in 2004.

Mehlman is also a prominent gay rights advocate and serves as a director of the American Foundation for Equal Rights.

Mehlman's primary responsibilities will be to "help expand the PEGCC's outreach efforts to educate and engage a broad set of stakeholders about the value of a vibrant and dynamic private equity industry," according to a statement from the association.

"I have enormous respect for the PEGCC's important work engaging with public policy makers to encourage more economic growth and retirement security for millions of Americans," Mehlman said. "I also share the PEGCC's goal of building a community of investors who seek superior returns while also emphasizing active, responsible governance, long term investment and measuring success in years not quarters."

Mehlman also credited Tresnowski for his work in helping block changes to carried interest taxes as yet and countering negative views of the private equity industry that emerged during former Bain Capital executive Mitt Romney's failed presidential bid.

—By CNBC's Lawrence Delevingne

Former Bush aide now top private equity lobbyist

By Lawrence Delevingne

Kenneth Mehlman, the public affairs chief at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. who was previously a leading Republican operative in Washington, is now the top lobbyist for the private equity industry.

Mehlman was elected Thursday as the chairman of The Private Equity Growth Capital Council, the most prominent industry advocacy group for firms like TPG Capital, Silver Lake, Apollo Global Management, Carlyle Group and Blackstone Group.

He will continue several long-running fights in Washington, including higher taxes for PE firms from a potential change in the treatment of carried interest and increased registration and disclosure rules from the Dodd-Frank Act.

KKR's McVey: Where to put your money

Henry McVey, KKR, explains why he likes allocation in emerging markets with Fed tapering looming.

Mehlman succeeds Mark Tresnowski, the top lawyer for Madison Dearborn Partners. PEGCC, launched in 2007, is also led day-to-day by president and chief executive officer Steve Judge.

Mehlman joined KKR in 2008 from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, where he was a partner in the law firm's legislative and regulatory counseling practice. He is best known for his work on behalf of conservative politicians before: chairing the Republican National Committee and running George W. Bush's presidential reelection campaign in 2004.

Mehlman is also a prominent gay rights advocate and serves as a director of the American Foundation for Equal Rights.

Mehlman's primary responsibilities will be to "help expand the PEGCC's outreach efforts to educate and engage a broad set of stakeholders about the value of a vibrant and dynamic private equity industry," according to a statement from the association.

"I have enormous respect for the PEGCC's important work engaging with public policy makers to encourage more economic growth and retirement security for millions of Americans," Mehlman said. "I also share the PEGCC's goal of building a community of investors who seek superior returns while also emphasizing active, responsible governance, long term investment and measuring success in years not quarters."

Mehlman also credited Tresnowski for his work in helping block changes to carried interest taxes as yet and countering negative views of the private equity industry that emerged during former Bain Capital executive Mitt Romney's failed presidential bid.

A strong year for gay-marriage advocates ends with a surprise

We’ll always have… Utah?

When scholars write the history of America’s gay-marriage battles, they may declare 2013 the year the balance tipped. For in the past 12 months the president has compared the campaign to America’s other great civil-rights struggles, the Supreme Court has declared that the federal government has no business denying equal treatment to legally wedded gay couples, and the number of states in which people may marry whom they please has doubled, from nine to 18 (plus Washington, DC), covering 39% of the population.

Most of the 18 are the sorts of progressive places one might expect. The last is anything but; as home to the Mormon church, a firm foe of gay marriage, Utah is among America’s most conservative states. Yet on December 20th Robert Shelby, a federal judge, gave Utah’s gay couples an early Christmas present by scrapping the state’s same-sex marriage ban, approved by 66% of voters in 2004. Caught out, state officials are appealing against the ruling, but Judge Shelby and an appeals court declined to suspend his decision in the meantime. (Utah has asked the Supreme Court to do so, and was awaiting its decision as The Economist went to press.) Hundreds of couples flocked to the altar.

If the decision stands Utah will become the seventh state to have gay marriage delivered by judges (the day before Judge Shelby’s ruling, New Mexico’s Supreme Court legalised gay marriage in that state). Eight legislatures have passed pro-marriage laws, as have voters in three states. But, says Fred Sainz of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay-rights group, “all the low-hanging fruit is gone”. Most of the 32 outstanding bans are in state constitutions and cannot be overturned by legislatures. So bar a few states, mainly in the West, which may hold public votes in the coming years, advocates are likely to enjoy most of their advances, and surely some setbacks, in courtrooms. And that could mean more Utah-style surprises.

Altared states: a world map of gay marriage rights

At least 35 lawsuits are making their way through federal courts in various states—including the curious case of two gay couples married in Massachusetts now seeking divorce in Texas, which does not allow gay marriage. Many plaintiffs have drawn succour from the Supreme Court’s decision in June to strike down Section 3 of the Defence of Marriage Act, which had denied federal benefits to married gay couples. Anthony Kennedy’s decision said nothing about the legality of state bans, but its anti-discrimination argument strengthened the case for opposing them.

Ultimately one or other of the state cases will make it to the Supreme Court. When that will happen is anyone’s guess. In June the justices declined to hear a challenge to California’s gay-marriage ban on procedural grounds; they may prefer to let the issue unfold further in lower courts before taking on another case with national implications. Meanwhile, the court of public opinion appears to have reached its verdict; in July 54% of voters said gays should be granted the same marriage rights as heterosexuals, 12 percentage points higher than when Utah passed its ban.

Kenneth Mehlman, Bush campaign manager comes out as gay

Former Republican National Committee chairman and Bush-Cheney campaign manager Kenneth Mehlman has announced publicly that he is gay, CBS News chief political consultant and politics editor for The Atlantic Marc Ambinder reports.

"It's taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life," Mehlman said. "Everybody has their own path to travel, their own journey, and for me, over the past few months, I've told my family, friends, former colleagues, and current colleagues, and they've been wonderful and supportive. The process has been something that's made me a happier and better person. It's something I wish I had done years ago, but I didn't."

Mehlman was RNC chairman from 2005 to 2007 after serving as Bush-Cheney campaign manager in 2004. He also served as White House political director during President Bush's first term.

Mehlman told Ambinder that he had recently come to the conclusion that he is gay and was looking to become an advocate for gay marriage. He went public in part because he expected to be asked about his sexuality when it became known he was participating in a fundraiser next month for the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), which is supporting a legal challenge to California's Proposition 8 initiative banning gay marriage.

Mehlman said President Bush "is no homophobe" but acknowledged that the Bush administration used antigay initiatives for political gain. In private conversations with senior Republicans, he said, he fought back against attempts to demonize same-sex marriage.

Activist Mike Rogers, as Ambinder notes, has waged a years-long campaign to force Mehlman out of the closet, including confronting him with questions about his sexuality on video. (Mehlman regularly denied that he was gay.) Rogers responded to the news that Mehlman was coming out by awarding him a "Roy Cohn Award" for "managing the most anti-gay presidential campaigns in history."

"Ken Mehlman is horridly homophobic and no matter how orchestrated his coming out is, our community should hold him accountable for his past," Rogers wrote.

Mehlman told Ambinder he understands that some people in the gay community will be upset that he did not come out until he was out of government.

"I can't change the fact that I wasn't in this place personally when I was in politics, and I genuinely regret that. It was very hard, personally," he said. He acknowledged that if he had come to terms with his sexual orientation earlier, "I could have worked against [the Federal Marriage Amendment]" and "reached out to the gay community in the way I reached out to African Americans."

GOP activists work for Gay rights, leaders Ken Mehlman and Paul Singer

Wealthy gay republicans are using their political influence to nudge GOP lawmakers to support gay marriage. They are being led by Kenneth Mehlman and Paul Singer. 

To read more about the equal right fight read here. 

The role everyone has is simply coming out and telling their story to their family and their friends and their colleagues. There are so many examples every day

Kenneth Mehlman is awesome

KKR to invest in China

Supported by their global institute run by David Petraeus and Ken Mehlman KKR has been expanding into Asian markets. In China specifically they have recently agreed to buy a 10% stake in Qingdao Haier Co Ltd. a large appliance maker. This stake in QHC is KKR's biggest investment in China to date and is their third asian deal with in a week. The investment is speculated to be around $550 million, a small portion of their $6 billion Asian investment fund. KKR expects to see a large growth in the appliance market in China, at lease 1/5th in the next two years and they are not the only ones. Two months ago Whirlpool Corp, the worlds larges appliance maker also invested a similar sum into China. 

Investments after the natural gas revolution.