Blackstone Group (BX) Holding 'Team Health Holdings' Files $100M IPO

I have a very negative piece on private equity scheduled to hit at the end of the day, so let me preface that piece by saying I have very little exposure to our financial oligarchy simply because much of it revolts me. I can make money in other ways - and sleep at night. The obvious Russian mafia play is Goldman Sachs (GS) but I don't want to go there - instead I chose the king of private equity, BX, - lesser of 2 evils I suppose. That said, both the investment banking and private equity culture is helping to enact reverse Robin Hood upon the American masses (take from the many to give to the few). I am only posting that footnote in this piece because of what I have coming out in a few hours ;) It's a rip roarer.

So as I take off my "I give a care about the US economy or its people" hat, and I put on my "I love speculating and using the masses money to advance the causes of the financial oligarchy" hat, a short story on Blackstone Group (BX). The stock has bounced very well since we added some extra exposure Friday but then again.... what hasn't done well.

• Team Health Holdings Inc, a hospital staffing company owned by a unit of private equity firm Blackstone Group (BX), has filed to raise as much as $100 million in an initial public offering.
• Knoxville, Tennessee-based Team Health, 92 percent owned by funds affiliated with Blackstone, provides staffing and other administrative service to 550 U.S. hospitals, according to a prospectus filed on Tuesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
• Team Health revenue rose 6.9 percent to $711.7 million in the first six months of 2009, with net income totaling $41.7 million, compared with a prior-year profit of $27.1 million on $665.5 million of revenue.

No shocker here - a growing company in one of the worst recessions in modern history... but it's in a sector that is immune to the reality of costs in US society: healthcare.

I suppose its a net positive that capital markets are opening up to the point that private equity can now sell off companies they've "managed" privately. Of course I assume Blackstone, like all PE firms layered the company up with debt to help pay for the fees for their expertise... that's the private equity way!

• Potential use of proceeds from the IPO include debt repayment.

[Sep 10, 2009: Blackstone Group Rallies on Goldman Sachs Addition to Conviction Buy List]
[Aug 27, 2009: Blackstone Group Becomes Top "Fund of Fund" Player]
[Aug 6, 2009: Blackstone Group Beats, But Already Ran into Earnings]
[May 7, 2009: Blackstone Group Narrows Loss]
[Mar 31, 2009: Bookkeeping - Starting Blackstone Group]

Long Blackstone Group in fund; no personal position