...On the smaller lakes guides can be procured for $1, although if one wants to row himself, a guide would be a superfluity, as the good sports are easily found; anchor near a hemlock stump and you are on good grounds. It is quite cool here, thermometer registering 62°. I am going to Blackstone Lake next week and will let you know my luck. A brief account in the Barrie Northern Advance for November 21, 1895 has: A fine maskinonge was lately caught by an American gentleman in Blackstone Lake In the a heavily commercialized pamphlet/book, Muskoka: Land of Health and Pleasure, payed for by the railways, Muskoka steamships and resorts along with some Toronto merchants, a column, taken from the Parry Sound North Star in 1897 (in an issue otherwise no longer available) a trip through Crane and Blackstone is described. Although the authors trip was not about fishing, he does note the surprising number of fishermen he came across on the two lakes during his visit and extols the Blackstone River despite the logging. This part starts as the author (name unknown) leaves “Lake...
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...the major ice ages include the positions of the continents or cratons, the composition of the earth's atmosphere, ocean currents and the earth's orbit. Curiously, we, and Blackstone Lake, are still in the latest major ice age, called the Quaternary glaciation. Happily we are currently in the interglacial period. The last ice age in Blackstone's region, the Wisconsin, ended about 11,000 years ago and it is the Wisconsin that shaped and scoured out the bowl for our lake and all the surrounding ones. This ice age is seen to be caused almost exclusively...
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...mentoring plays in our understanding of leadership. 8. Address challenges to the effectiveness of leadership. 9. Assess whether charismatic and transformational leadership generalize across cultures. I am more afraid of an army of 100 sheep led by a lion than an army of 100 lions led by a sheep. Talleyrand Private Equity’s Poster Boy If it’s true that “Nice guys finish last,” there is no better proof than Stephen Schwarzman, chief executive of the Blackstone Group, who says his mission in life is to “inflict pain” and “kill off” his rivals. “I want war,” he told the Wall Street Journal, “not a series of skirmishes.” And win in business he has. In 20 years, he has made Blackstone one of the most profitable—and most feared—investment groups on Wall Street, with assets approaching $200 billion. Though these are not easy times for any investment bank, Blackstone has largely avoided the pitfalls of subprime mortgages and mortgage-backed securities. Some of this strategy might be considered good fortune—Blackstone invests much more heavily in commercial than in residential real estate. However, some credit is due to Schwarzman’s foresight. As he notes, “We were cautious in the so-called golden age. We were the least aggressive of all the big firms in the first half of 2007....
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...raised by Silver Lake, and a $2 billion loan from Microsoft. Other funding sources include cash invested by MSD Capital, rollover of existing debt and debt financing from several investment banks. Problem The $24.4 billion buyout bid at $13.65 per share by Michael Dell and Silver Lake seemed to undervalue Dell. Analysis Dell shareholders cried that the bid from Michael Dell and Silver Lake was far to low. Southeastern Asset Management, one of Dell’s largest shareholders, was upset and even did its own valuation saying shares were worth closer to $24. That prompted activist investor Carl Icahn and the Blackstone Group to make counter-offers. Blackstone would pay $14.25 per share in a leveraged recapitalization. Shareholders could take a buyout at that price, or they could stick around and receive new shares that will continue to trade on the Nasdaq. Blackstone says it has talked with some of Dell’s largest shareholders and plans to invite them to participate in the recapitalization. Carl Icahn proposes investing up to $5 billion in Dell, and, through a more complex recapitalization, pay $15 a share for roughly 58% of Dell. In his plan, Icahn would assume 24.1% (up from 4.8%...
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...similarities Ford, Toyota, Nike and SeaWorld are large multi-million dollar profitable companies. They are all publicly traded companies. They have all had tragedies that closely involve the guests that have used their products. Ford and Toyota are automotive companies that have existed since the early 1900’s. Ford and Toyota are publicly traded companies both internationally and domestically. This leads to the cultural differences with these two companies. They both export into foreign countries; the United States to other countries and Toyota imports to the United States thus being a foreign country to Toyota’s Japan headquarters. SeaWorld Corp. has recently been acquired by The Blackstone Group which is headquartered in the United Kingdom. The entity Merlin Entertainment is a portion of The Blackstone Group and has investments in such companies as Legoland USA and Madame Tussaunds which is located internationally and domestically. All of these companies have a commitment to improving their carbon footprint. SeaWorld has the SeaWorld Conservation Fund which financially supports endangered animals. Ford and Toyota have created hybrid cars which are helping to reduce the pollution into the environment. Nike has a commitment to educating the community through various educational programs. All of the companies have had bad publicity and had a difficult time recovering from the public’s opinion in the companies’ unfortunate experiences. All four companies delayed addressing issues...
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...Hayley Masi May 8, 2013 Law Lipman E1 Justice Delayed is Justice Denied The term “Justice delayed is justice denied,” was written by William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898). Gladstone was one of the greatest English politicians and was also former British Prime Minister. It has several possible origins, one of which is the Magna Carta, clause 40 which states, “To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay, right or justice.” A prompt trial is guaranteed by the sixth amendment of the United States Constitution. A defendant who is held in jail for a lengthy period of time prior to his day in court could ultimately be found not guilty and then will have been in a sense wrongfully imprisoned. Trials that are pushed back for years may mean that witnesses may be lost or their memories may fade and a guilty man could walk. Victims of crimes and their families must prolong an agonizing ordeal awaiting their day in court. Parties on both sides of the law may be adversely affected by a justice system that is slow and inefficient. In the New York Times, an article written showed that in the Bronx there were more people waiting for their trial then in the rest of the city combined. This borough “was responsible for more than half of New York City’s criminal cases that were over two years old, and for two-thirds of the defendants waiting for their trials in jail for more than five years.” Of the cases eventually tried in the Bronx, less than half of the...
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...Why was Xerox in trouble in the early 2000s? What do you believe were the root causes? In the early 2000’s Xerox was reported to have been facing bankruptcy after years of mismanagement, piles of debt, and mounting questions about its accounting practices In December 2000, Xerox announced that it had exhausted a $7 billion line of credit, but that $1.4 billion in cash remained. By January 2001, it was rumored that Xerox had hired a bankruptcy advisor namely from the Blackstone Group. However, in an attempt to further hide their financial woes from the public, Xerox officials denied that rumor, stating that they called on Blackstone for financial advice and nothing more. Their financial struggles continued until Xerox Corporation did what no one expected it to do; the company survived a brush with bankruptcy under the direction of a new CEO, Anne Mulcahy, who had no prior experience heading a company although she had served in multiple areas of the company’s business before becoming CEO. In an interview with CNN she was quoted as saying: “although it wasn’t necessarily done with the intent of running the business, I found out that it was a pretty good set of skills and capabilities to have coming into the job.” Although it was believed that Xerox was in trouble in the early 2000’s due to its financial woes, I believe that competition stifled their copier sales. Prior to Ms. Mulcahy taking over, the company was guided by leaders that did not move with...
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...Blackstone Group Asset Management Group IPO 2007 Finance 1516 Asset Management Business Asset management involves the management of investments by third-party managers for their investors. Asset managers use various strategies that can be divided into these broad categories: traditional equity, fixed income fund strategies and alternative investment strategies (Blackstone Group LP, 2007). The more traditional asset managers manage and trade portfolios of equity, fixed income and or derivative securities. Assets may be invested in investment companies that are registered under the 1940 Act or through separate account managers on their behalf. The traditional fund manager is normally compensated with fees that are a percentage of assets under their management. Alternative asset managers have predefined risk parameters and investment guidelines and use a variety of strategies to achieve the required returns for their clients (Blackstone Group, 2007). This industry has experienced significant growth in worldwide assets under management in the past ten years, partially due to aging populations in both developed and emerging markets around the world that have increased the pools of savings and particularly pension assets. Blackstone has delivered superior returns with a lower correlation to the broader market than traditional asset management strategies. They have helped their clients diversify their investment portfolios by including...
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...Hilton core business: Hilton Group of hotel is one of the renowned names in the lodging industry. With close to 3000 properties and 500,000 rooms in 78 countries, it is among the top most brands in the hospitability sector. It is a brand management company, catering to the needs of millions of travellers around the globe. With about several billion dollars of real estate invested in Hilton brand of hotels, it offers distinct products across a whole range of consumer segments. Being a brand management company, Hilton hotels own many properties and also franchises its brand name to the property owners who chooses to invest with them. While offering its brand, Hilton wishes to create a unique standardized experience for all the customers across the world. At the same time, Hilton offers property owners an immediate recognition, more footfalls, advertisements and other branding benefits so as to have the best guest experience associated with the Hilton Hotel Brand name. Hilton competitive advantage lays on both its size and diversification as it is present in almost all the segments of the industry. Unlike their competitors who are either big but less diversified or are diversified but lack presence in all segments, Hilton brands offer whole gamut of products in all segments. As per my analysis Hilton hotel is mix of both sales oriented and market oriented firm with the belief of putting customer needs first. Their Customer Really Matter initiative and the subsequent OnQ program...
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...Siegel had worked together for several years for other grocery wholesalers. They named their fledgling enterprise “C&S,” and worked hard to build a base of loyal, satisfied customers. The company started in a 5,000 square foot, three story warehouse with three warehouse workers. C&S purchased and received goods from a myriad of manufactures, stored the goods in their warehouse and then sold and distributed the goods to area retailers in an ongoing process. They handled over 1,200 grocery products. The warehouse covered approximately 400,000 square feet of land and could be as tall as 40 feet in height. Inside the warehouse there are rows of steel shelving. Products were stored on shelves and organized by items. In 1929, Worcester’s Blackstone River flooded the C&S warehouse, destroying its entire inventory. Despite the devastation of the flood C&S packed up and moved to a new location on higher grounds. The new facility was twice the size of Worcester. Rick Cohen became president and CEO of C&S Wholesale Grocers in 1987 after his father Lester Cohen retired. Cohen is trying to decide whether and how to implement the self-managed team’s concept in his warehouse. In 1988 C&S had begun to act as principal wholesaler to A&P throughout New England, a decision that was consistent with the firm's growth strategy, but that also represented a significant increase in daily throughput. This one move of new business increase sales tremendously. In 1958, C&S won the BIG D supermarket...
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...that transaction pushed Hilton close to 1,700 properties. Nowadays, Hilton’s properties are present in 78 countries and are over 3,000 properties. The mission statement of Hilton Hotel Corporation is “To be the preeminent global hospitality company – the first choice of guests, team members, and owners alike”. Obviously, Hilton’s core business would be the leader in global hospitality company. Hilton works aggressively to gain competitive advantage over other competing hotels so as to retain its global image and reputation and be the first choice of the people travelling around the world for business or leisure. 2. Blackstone’s intention to grow the business and brands globally – After the takeover of Hilton by Blackstone group, the main intention of the group is to invest in Hilton and other brands from around the world which will help them to grow the business for the benefit of stakeholders and eventually become a “premier in global hospitality business”. 3. Enhance the guest experience - Hilton believes in providing experience better than the last time the guest visited them, by taking care of guests’ preferences and what the guest would be expecting out of them. 4. Consistency of Services – Hilton believes that...
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...MGMT 338 5 April 2015 Minicase #1 Which of the following companies or brands are owned by companies headquartered outside of the United States? Who are the owners and which country(ies) are the owners based in? 1. 7-Eleven Stores: Owned by Seven-Eleven Japan Co. LTD in Tokyo, Japan "7-Eleven Profile." 7-Eleven Corporate. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2015. <http://corp.7-eleven.com/corp/7-eleven-profile>. 2. Chesebrough-Pond (Vaseline): Owned by Unilever which is based out of London, UK "Investor Center." Stay in Touch with Our Share Price. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2015. <http://www.unileverusa.com/investorcentre/>. 3. Maybelline cosmetics: Owned by Loreal which is based out of Clichy Cedex, France "Contact Us." Loreal. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2015. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.loreal.com%2Fcontact-us%2Fcontact-us-homepage.aspx>. 4. Diesel clothing: Owned by OTB (Only The Brave) based out of Breganze, Vicenza, Italy "OTB." BoF - Business of Fashion. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2015. <http://www.businessoffashion.com/community/companies/otb>. 5. Aquafresh toothpaste: Owned by GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare L.P (GSK): Brentford, UK "GSK." GSK - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2015. <http://www.gsk.com/>. 6. Baby Ruth candy bar: Owned by Nestle which is based out of Vevey, Switzerland "Nestle Worldwide." Nestle. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2015. <http://www.nestle.com/aboutus/globalpresence>. 7. Holiday Inn: Owned by InterContinental Hotels Group IHG based...
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...to survey Carling and Cowper Townships and a north-south line down Conger Township just to the west of Blackstone Lake. This is between the 18th and 19th lot on the southern limit of Foley. This line seems designed to just touch a point farthest west of Blackstone Lake, a point farthest west in McRobert Bay. The Dept. Of Crown Lands gives him a map of the general area from the previous survey by his brothers and GA Stewart done 5-10 years previously. The townships of Foley and Humphrey are full of details but the Conger Township area is blank. Conger was not an officially designated township till 1874 and would have to wait. However, in Walter's notes Blackstone already is named. An...
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...HBS Project: Blackstone and the Sale of Citigroup’s Loan Portfolio Blackstone and The Sale of Citigroup’s Loan Portfolio In the second half of 2007, the banking industry and financial market showed signs of considerable stress by raising the default rate of mortgage and the decline in the value of residential mortgage-backed securities. This had led to a re-pricing of many debt instruments. By the end of 2007, Citigroup declared that the fair value of its U.S. sub-prime related direct exposure could decline by 20%. This affected Citigroup’s financial results and would incur further losses in the future. One of Citigroup’s main concerns was the risk of their exposure from holding leveraged loans. Due to the increasing risks and costs associated with holding these loans, Citigroup approached several large investors, including a private equity firm and a hedge fund, about purchasing leveraged loans from their portfolio. Blackstone expressed interest in a portfolio that contained a total face value of $6.11 billion, with16 different issuers. Blackstone, one of the world largest private equity firms, was reviewing materials for their potential purchase of a $6.11 billion pool of leveraged loans from Citigroup, one of the world’s largest banking entities. Most of these loans were used to finance large leveraged buyouts (LBOs). Citigroup would help the transaction by offering debt financing for the purchase of the loam, while Blackstone would offer the rest of the fund and...
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...Q1: How profitable is Blackstone business? Solution: Commercial: * Contribution margin = 48% * Variable cost=52% * COGS = 34% * Other variable overhead = 18% Residential: * Contribution margin = 38% * Variable cost = 62% * COGS = 26% * Other variable overheads =36% In year 1: Monopoly enabled CMR to gain 25% of its residential revenues from Blackstone customers In year 2: Increased prices by 7% resulting in overall increase of 15-20% for customers of Blackstone The revenue earned from Blackstone is $210,314. The variable overheads are double that of commercial because they have to invest extra time (90 mins) and also the conversion efficiency is less. If this is reduced to half i.e. the original value the contribution margin rises to 0.56 which is higher than commercial. Also COGS of 26% are sold at 100. This implies COGS of 34% is sold will be sold at 130. Thus, we are already selling at higher price due to the extra time being spent. Although, a fully aware customer will be ready to pay higher price yet this situation cannot be fully explained to them. Hence, 7% increase in price in 2nd year is not a viable strategy in this case. Q2: What should CMR do about the Blackstone Account? Solution: Problem areas with Blackstone: * It is not a strategic fit * There is rigidity in cash flows * There were project coordination problems among different subcontractors * Reluctance from Blackstone to share their information...
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