Romney Used His Bermudan Company to Invest in Chinese Outsourcing
The Romney-as-outsourcer drum bangs on. Mother Jones reports Romney invested millions of dollars in a Chinese company that relied almost entirely on outsourcing while at Bain Capital, and invested with his Bermudan company as well
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Brookside Capital Partners Fund, a Bain affiliate, purchased a 6 percent stake in Global-Tech Appliance, an appliance manufacturer based in China in 1998. Brookside had Mitt's name listed as the "sole shareholder, sole director, President and Chief Executive Officer of Brookside Inc. and thus is the controlling person of Brookside Inc." Mother Jones estimates the size of the initial investment at $14.2 million. Global-Tech made appliances for American companies like, "Hamilton Beach, Mr. Coffee, Proctor-Silex, Revlon, and Vidal Sassoon." By the end of 1998, Brookside and Sankaty High Yield Asset Investors LTD, Romney's Bermudan investment fund, both owned pieces of Global Tech. Both Brookside and Sankaty sold their stake in Global-Tech in 2000 after Romney left Bain to work for the Salt Lake City Olympics.
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A Romney campaign "official" wouldn't comment on the story, but a Romney "aide" told Mother Jones it wasn't a big deal to invest in a company that used outsourcing:
"[I]t's my understanding that while Brookside is a part of Bain Capital, it is not a private equity vehicle. Brookside makes passive investments in public stock. They don't control or manage the companies they invest in. Brookside had a small ownership stake (9.11 percent) in Global-Tech…while Romney was there. If owning shares in a foreign company is somehow wrong, President Obama is guilty as well."
If you need a complete recap of the outsourcing claims of both Romney and Obama, our Elspeth Reeve made a handy guide on Wednesday afternoon. The Romney campaign was shocked and appalled after Democrats brought up outsourcing repeatedly on the Sunday talk shows. The whole outsourcing narrative started when the Washington Post reported Romney invested in some of the earliest outsourcing companies. Sankaty is the Bermuda-based company Romney failed to disclose on financial statements for a few years, and then transferred to his wife's name when he became Governor of Massachusetts.
