Romney's Work at Bain Capital Helped Companies

1 - Bain Capital Ventures is part of Bain Capital, and has invested in 113 companies.[1] Romney was directly involved with Staples and one of the key players in that success, so this aspect of Bain Capital's work cannot be discounted.2 - Con states that leveraged buyouts are bad, without looking at the specifics of the results. For instance, Sealy Corp. Even with adding more debt to the company, in the form of $38 million in interest payments, Sealy had more net income, more employees, and more business than before. Adding debt isn't necessarily a bad thing, if the company is better off after paying the interest on the debt, then it can be a great for the company. Generalized statements like this have no bearing on the effect Bain Capital had on companies.3 - 22% of companies fell into bankruptcy within eight years of being 'raided'. Unfortunately, the cited article doesn't provide any details about these companies. Was Bain still managing them when they went bankrupt? Were they going bankrupt before Bain stepped in? What did Bain do at these companies? Statistics like this are meaningless as they have no base, no control, and no context.4 - Armco Steel wasn't doing well in the early 1990s.[2] Armco Inc(the correct name at the time) lost $240 million dollars in 1991, and $35 million in the first quarter of 1992.[3] Tom Graham was brought in to turn the company around, and part of that included 10 divestitures[2], which are required when a company is failing. It is better to save a company with some layoffs than to allow the entire company to go under. It is important to note that Armco Inc wasn't a public company, and unless Con is able to provide sources for their financial data, it is difficult to know exactly what transpired. We do have public information for 1996 and later. We also know that by 1996, despite the 10 divestitures made the year before Bain stepped in, Armco Steel Holdings had 5,800 employees.[4] So, Bain created jobs at Armco, at least 1,300 if Con's number of 4,500 is correct, in it's first 3 years.We do have some financial data in the 1996 report about previous years. In 1992 Armco suffered a net loss of $544 million. In 1993 Armco suffered a net loss of $42 million. In 1994, Armco enjoyed a $257 million net profit. Clearly, Bain was a tremendous help to Armco, in spite of any layoffs that were necessary to save the company.As for the bankruptcy, Tom Graham pushed for a new $1.1 billion dollar mill to be built[3] in the late 1990s. Armco's debt skyrocketed from $325 million in 1995 to $1.45 billion in 1999[4,5]. Con hasn't shown in any way how Romney and Bain were a net-negative influence on Armco Steel, aka Armco Inc, aka AK Steel.5 - Stage Stores. Con doesn't show why Stage Stores filed for bankruptcy, and Mitt had left Bain by that point. By 1995 Stage had over 9,000 employees and $10 million in net income.[6] In 1999, Mitt's last year, Stage had over 15,000 employees, and $48 million dollars in net income.[7] I will leave it up to Con to determine the reasons for the bankruptcy, but Stage Stores continues to this day with over 13,000 employees and $37 million in net income.[8]6 - Ampad. Ampad was in danger, as parent corp. Mead was laying off employees. Bain stepped in, and Ampad enjoyed 53% net sales growth year after year from 1992 to 1996 when it went public.[9] Con has failed to go into the reasons why Ampad went bankrupt, including who was in charge from 1996 on. I couldn't find public financial information on Ampad for this time period, but Con has failed to show how Bain had a negative influence on Ampad.7 - GS Industries similarly doesn't seem to have any public financial information for the time, so we are unable to see where the company stood before, during, and after Romney's influence. Con hasn't established how Bain was instrumental in GS filing bankruptcy.8 - Details, I haven't found financial information here either. Con hasn't shown any information as to how Details did before and with Bain, nor the reasons why Details filed bankruptcy.As I have clearly shown with public financial information, not only was Bain/Romney consistently successful(not 100%, but net-successful) in increasing net income for companies, but also in creating new jobs. Con has pointed to some news sources that don't say anything about a company's situation before, during, and after Bain's involvement, whereas I have shown Bain to take failing companies and breathe new life into them.So far, I have shown Bain to have added the following jobs: 1,300 at Armco6,000 at Stage Stores89,000 at Staples1,100 at Sealy For a total of 97,400 jobs, showing a tremendous net-growth.[1]http://www.baincapitalventures.com...[2]http://www.fundinguniverse.com...[3]http://articles.latimes.com...[4]http://www.sec.gov...[5]http://www.sec.gov...[6]http://www.sec.gov...[7]http://www.sec.gov...[8]http://www.sec.gov...[9]http://en.wikipedia.org...