Thursday, May 22, 2008

Carlyle Invades Eastern Europe in Search of Deals


Just days after an ex-Carlyle affiliate board member pounded his golf shoe on the podium at the Knesset over Nazi "appeasers", the Carlyle Group announced its planned march through Poland and Eastern Europe. Their new general is Ryszard Wojtwoski, the former managing partner of Poland's largest private equity firm.

True to their modus operandi, their new hire spent time in a high level political position before joining the private equity underwriting (PEU) world. Mr. Wotjowski served as Chief of Staff to the Polish Prime Minister from 1983 to 1991. According to Financial News Carlyle plans to overtake companies in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Slovenia, and the Baltic States. Beware the financial blitzkrieg spurred on by co-founder William Conway's exhortation, "Make me money."