this was strange some/ why didn't mat help them ?????
Lawmakers Question KKR, Bain Capital Over Toys 'R' Us Failure Date : 07/06/2018 @ 1:24PM Source : Dow Jones News Stock : Kkr & Co. Inc. Class A (KKR) Quote : 27.04 0.19 (0.71%) @ 6:26PM Lawmakers Question KKR, Bain Capital Over Toys 'R' Us Failure
By Chris Cumming Nineteen members of Congress sent a letter to the private-equity backers of Toys "R" Us Inc. questioning their role in the toy retailer's bankruptcy and criticizing the leveraged-buyout model as an engine of business failure and job loss.
The July 5 letter was addressed to the heads of KKR & Co., Bain Capital and Vornado Realty Trust and signed by 18 Democratic members of the House of Representatives and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.).
It asks whether the investment firms deliberately pushed Toys "R" Us into bankruptcy and encourages them to compensate the roughly 33,000 workers who lost their jobs.
"Leveraged buyouts -- such as those facilitated by your companies -- often result in mass job loss, closure of profitable businesses and unnecessary financial burdens for local government, " the letter states. "Such buyouts harm communities, while investment managers walk away with significant gains."
The letter is addressed to KKR's Co-Chief Executives George Roberts and Henry Kravis, Bain Capital Co-Chairman Joshua Bekenstein, and Vornado Chairman and Chief Executive Steven Roth, and asks for a response to the questions by July 15.
It is an informal letter of inquiry and the firms aren't legally obligated to reply, a congressional aide said.
KKR issued a response dated July 6 stating that Toys "R" Us's troubles were caused by market forces -- specifically the growth of e-commerce retailers -- and that the decision to liquidate was made by the company's creditors, not KKR, and was against the firm's wishes.
The letter, signed by KKR's global head of public affairs, Ken Mehlman, was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
"To be clear, we did not want the U.S. operations to be liquidated.
We wanted the company to restructure, return to health and vitality and stay in business -- but the creditors had a different and prevailing view," KKR's response read.
Bain Capital didn't comment on the congressional letter.
Vornado didn't respond to a request for comment.
The letter may add to the pressure on the three investment firms over their role in the failure of Toys "R" Us, which filed for bankruptcy in September and last week closed its U.S. stores.
Laid-off workers, union representatives and advocacy groups for retail employees have pressured KKR's and Bain Capital's investors,
asking for $75 million in severance.
Minnesota's state pension suspended investments with KKR until it conducts an investigation of the New York firm's role in Toys "R" Us's collapse.
The Washington State Investment Board last month questioned KKR executive Nate Taylor over the firm's management of the retailer.
In their letter, the lawmakers questioned the firms about the debt burden they placed on Toys "R" Us and asked what services they performed for the fees they collected,
whether they plan to pay severance to the workers who lost their jobs and whether any firm employees were involved in the decision to lay off the workers.
KKR stated in its response that it reinvested $3.5 billion in Toys "R" Us over the course of its ownership and didn't take any investment profits.
It added that it wrote down its entire equity investment of $418 million and challenged reports that it had earned a profit on the investment.
"Even accounting for fees received from Toys 'R' Us, we have lost many millions of dollars.
To find anyone who profited, one would need to look at the institutions that pushed for Toys to liquidate its U.S. business, " the firm wrote.
KKR wrote that it has been in touch with representatives of the laid-off workers and "expressed our desire to help them."
"We believe we have found a path outside of the bankruptcy process to help those who need it the most, and we are committed to supporting this, " the firm said.
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