Cashing in Early: New Accounting at Blackstone to Book Buyout Profits Before Companies Sold Off!
Financial engineering to "unlock" value from companies acquired through buyout deals seemingly knows no limits. Undeterred by corporate governance critics of an IPO which will give investors no say in how it runs its buyout business, Blackstone now plans on booking profits from future sales at the time of purchase! "They are being more intellectually rigorous," said one accountant specialising in private equity. "It would allow them to book profit a damn sight earlier, like several years earlier." James Mackintosh of the Financial Times explains this rigorous exercise in creative accounting here.