Capitalism Ensews

[Iverica]

The beginning of the brief but occasionally distracted account of Iverican Private Equity in Velaherian Textiles. Readers should not expect a central narrative despite the emphasis on character idiosyncrasies nor should expect any reasonable level of sequitur. Written in this style purely for the author's pleasure and his readers' probable dismay.

 

INTRODUCTION AND PART I: PEOPLE

 

Francisco Sant Ruis, MBA, PhD, CPA, CFA was just 25 when he started Sant Ruis Venture & Equity. His company started as a small private investment firm with only 28 employees crammed into a cheap office next to the projects of downtown Altaria City. Registered as a PE/VC in January 2005, the company had less than 10 million Iverican Velles in liquid capital to its name (this was very little). The office had a single bathroom (sans hot water), the subtle and questionable scent of asbestos, and a single one-eyed stray cat adopted as the office mouser named, Quincy MacMillan III, Esq. The company's core team consisted of Sant Ruis himself, and 3 other Certified Financial Analysts who would take the roles of Partner.

 

First, there was Iago Ramos-Gussman, head of accounting and financial data. Iago was infamously known for his photographic memory, and was once investigated for saving 6 different investment companies from potential criminal accounting fraud in the same year. Iago's former employer, once-esteemed import-export magnate Pablo Frescobar claimed that Iago could simultaneously parse 3 separate financial statement compendiums each over a 3-year period and find the most minute clerical errors. Frescobar also hinted that Iago could hide them just as well. Iago was also three-time winner of Altaria Provincial Cup, Rapier- Men's Open.

 

Then there was Lam Buklon, Chief Analyst and head of research. Lam became a chess prodigy after his 13-move win over Lars Møller, Argic Grandmaster. Lam was 12 and a half. The following year, Lam's father, an Indiense billionaire entrepreneur, passed away. Former business partners opened a lawsuit in the following months and won the case on tenuous precedents, divesting Lam's family of 99.8% of his father's assets. Following the devastating loss of their life savings and now in deep arears, Lam's mother used the remaining money to send Lam to the Intreimor Business School and overdosed on anti-depressants shortly thereafter. When Lam was 16, he published a book detailing the theory of hybrid technical and fundamental analysis for small venture capital investment strategies. The fundamentals of the theory are now taught in most Iberic avantgarde investment courses. When Lam was 21, he published a series of investigatory research papers which are largely credited with causing an investor fallout within his father's former business partners' enterprises. Lam acquired the companies himself on leverage and resold them 5 years later at a substantial profit.

 

Last but not least, there was Maria Fong-Tueres, head of investment operations, client relations, and Chief of Operations. Born the eldest of 8 siblings to an upper-middle-class of Huang fast food franchisers, Maria was an expert in soft business skills and had an intuition for an enterprise's value. When she was 18, Maria sold her first steamed bun start-up for 12 times its book value. When she was 21, she won trader of the year at the floor of Altaria's cut-throat ALTX exchange, beating the second-place contender by a margin of 25.65 million in volume. At 25, Maria was instrumental in closing a majority acquisition of a stake valued at 12 Billion Velles.

 

These 3 were Sant Ruis hand-picked crack team of prodigies with which he would conquer the savage world of hyper-capitalist private equity.

 

Sant Ruis himself was a quiet man but had an undeniable presence of character in a room. Neurotic but not temperamental, he only wore wool jackets, even in the height of Altarian summer — though he was never heard complaining. He was reserved but not unsociable, silent at the last moment but with a pronounced sense of humour expressed by a loud, gun-shot, 'HAH!", accompanied by a banged fist on the table prone to spill unprotected drinks. The office was equipped with Ruis-proofed cup-holders in 2006.  Sant Ruis was renown as an excellent judge of character and picked his team to excel where he lacked.

 

Though a prodigy himself, winning most of his honorary degrees at the age of 18 after publishing his private research in a journal his uncle owned, Sant Ruis' tutors and professors often noted Sant Ruis' distinct lack of energy and originality. Indeed, Sant Ruis' entire bibliography is regularly critiqued as stifling and formalistic to a fault, being torturous to read if not for the superb graphical data models which graced every other page. Sant Ruis was born to 2 affluent Hidalgos in Porto Verde, in the Duchy of Verde. His father was a prominent art collector who was held in high regard for his efforts in creating 3 canonically treasured collections in the genres of Neoclassic Imperial Revival painting, Pastoral Impressionist painting, and the failed but cult-renown genre "Lesbian Burlesque in Marble". His mother, known as the "Swan of Sant-Bastien" was a nationally celebrated ballet dancer. Pressured by an odious degree of artistic encouragement since birth, young Francisco ran away from his family's estate at 12, but not before completing accreditations in the Trivium and Quadrivium, of the Ducal Academy of the Humanities.

 

The young Sant Ruis became a ghostwriter and, later, writing associate for a large and well-known Financial Advisory firm in Altaria's Jewish Quarter. Though he did not acquire accolades to match his future colleagues during his teens, Ruis lived largely independently, honing a sharp wit and keen instinct against the con-men and well-tailored swindlers of the Altarian downtown. He completed his MBA at 15, successfully defending a thesis in the Role of Private Equity in Developing Argic Economies, which he revisited and re-wrote into a Dissertation 3 years later after travelling central and eastern Argis by hitchhiking on train cars. Sant Ruis is said to have studied for his CFA and CPA exams during smoke breaks and on the toilet during his informal work as a writer and sideline personal investor. 

 

With Sant Ruis' experience, the skills of his three partners, and the loving, sometimes painful affection of Quincy MacMillan III, Esq., Chief Office Mouser, Sant Ruis' small, dingy operation would eventually incorporate and go public as one of the largest Private Equity & Venture Capital investment groups by book value and assets under management. The events that led to its success, as it is now well-known, started with Velaherian Textiles.

 

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OOC: I'll talk about the actual proceedings of how the investment happened in a second post. I just had fun writing a needlessly detailed profile of the actors responsible for the Iverican side of things. Clearly, these are all prodigies, as noted. Not everyone in Iverica is like this, lmao. (Or are they?). I'll keep this short. Probably 1 or 2 more posts after this. @DPR Velaheria, feel free to do anything you want to show your end, no need to stick to this format.

[Velaheria]

INTRODUCTION AND PART 1: Overview and History

The Textile industries of Velaheria have been owned by the Velaherian regime, since the war of liberation of 1942, and has been made into a key asset for the regime, as since it was nationalized, it has provided jobs to several unemployed farmers and labourers, something that has led to greater productivity in terms of cloth production and garments manufacturing, with specialization in the manufacturing of cotton and vinyl clothing.

The Main Companies which form the Backbone of the Velaherian textile industries are Velaherian People's Clothing Ltd and Velaherian Revolutionary Garments Ltd, Both of which were founded in the early 1950s by the Velaherian regime and the Big four in order to move the Velaherian state away from the dependence on Dolchland for importing garments and clothing for the average people to wear, and to produce affordable clothing. While these institutions were set up with a noble cause in mind, not everything was sunshine and roses. They were, at that time, completely state owned and were run by two separate families loyal to the VPP during the civil war. 

So let's talk a bit about those families, One of them are the "Ensteik's", They have always been loyal to the Starinburg regime, and had supported the VPA during the war to "liberate" Velaherian people from the Dolchic colonisers, And after the war ends, They are rewarded for their continued support of the regime, as the People's Assembly assign the management of the V.R.G to the Ensteiks, though this proved to show the nepotist climate of the Velaherian Political and cultural scenario from its very beginning. 

The V.R.G and the VPC have although faced several issues related to bureaucracy and lack of adequate funds, due to state corruption and lack of proper authority necessary to ensure the elimination of these issues, despite that, they both have managed to produce and export adequate amounts of vinyl and cotton clothing to its domestic and foreign consumers, more often than not having surplus revenue with them due to the heavy demand of cotton and vinyl clothing in the consumer market. 

Though they faced large amounts of economic downturn during the late 1980s and 1990s due to the collapse of socialist governments in Argis and due to increasingly terrible weather conditions, with the reducing state budget, as a result most of their assets and machinery were not maintained, And some of its looms and machines are still damaged as a result of that, though the state government and the Ensteik family had started a re-initiation program during the late 1990s which aimed to fix or replace most of the machinery by the early 2000s, and it was largely a success. 

With the Turn of the millennium, Velaheria passed laws which legalised private ownership and encouraged people to open up small scale and medium scaled industries, as a result several other smaller clothing companies have opened up in the recent decades, though VPC and VRG remain the biggest manufacturers of garments and the largest employers in the garments sector of Velaheria. 

The Ensteik family insisted to the Velaherian people's assembly to improve the infrastructure near their industrial assets (like most of the other state owned companies did earlier or later on) as a way to attract  direct investments and joint ventures and from other foreign companies, though were mostly unsure if anyone would even invest or do any sort of agreements with those companies, keeping in mind that Velaherian industrial sector wasn't as advanced or competitive like some other nations, mostly due to the fact that Velaheria had spent most of its resources vying to develop a mostly self-sufficient, industrial powerhouse, which had less regard for consumer requirements, and more for the state's needs.

[Iverica]

PART II: THE APPROACH

 

Francisco Sant Ruis, MBA, PhD, CPA, CFA, of Sant Ruis Venture & Equity discovered Velaherian Textiles the day his hung-over cousin came shambling into his office. The bedraggled, unwashed, and unshaven man had returned from a bender across Argis. Apparently, he had drunkenly stumbled into a Fravinan livestock train car headed to Velaheria after hiding from several angry Baccarat players, to whom he owed his father's Patrice-Philippe timepiece.
 

The man had woken up in a Velaherian train station, thoroughly confused and covered in pig faeces. He was promptly detained for entry without the proper papers. He spent the next 72 hours waiting for 1 of 18 Iberic speaking translators in the entire country to arrive and interrogate him. In that time, he was allowed to peruse a stack of Velaherian propaganda material, one of which caught his attention.
 

The interrogation was short. After confirming that the man was merely a hung-over foreigner and not a Dolch Spy, he was released, though he lost the aforementioned Patrice-Philippe timepiece as part of the "fine" for illegal border crossing. It is often told to this day, that the guard who won the watch in the ensuing blackjack game became one of the richest men in Velaheria overnight until his murder a fortnight later.
 

To cut a meandering story short, the cousin went on another bender on several Walnerian cruise ships before somehow ending up back in Altaria. Through some stroke of fortune, the propaganda piece of interest had found its way into his jacket pocket and stayed there for the remainder of the tryst. Miraculously, it stayed legible throughout the drinking binges and orgies that took place across the Keelpijp Passage and Mediargic Seas. The piece itself was stuffed with pro-Starinburg propaganda. Only one article stuck out: the announcement that the state would be allowing limited foreign investment and domestic private ownership. It was this scrap of paper that ended up in Francisco's office, traded for an Aspirin and some sparkling water.
 

The cogs in Francisco's mind turned. He checked online. He made some veiled calls. He spent 2 hours staring at a painting of two homosexuals intimately occupied at a beach in the Orinese Riviera. At last, he came to the conclusion that not many had heard the news, and that no one was presently doing anything about it. Yet.
 

At the next partner's meeting, he made an announcement. The company was going to attempt an entry into the Velaherian market. Francisco knew that it was a strange move, one that would go unnoticed by big investment firms but would attract the attention of his low-capital competitors. It had to be done surreptitiously. His partners trusted him, but they all agreed that the firm would need to access financial records and conduct an in-person inspection of their prospects first.
 

An email was sent out to another of Francisco's cousins who did import/export out of Delamaria. Through this connection, an Expression of Interest was sent via snail mail to the Velaherian state securities & exchange authorities requesting a state-sanctioned visit for commercial purposes. Also requested were 3 separate business visas, for 3 out of 4 partners. Attached were all the "gifts" necessary and polite in Velaherian culture. A separate letter, requesting a private meeting, was sent to the Ensteik family, who owned 49% of the textile holding company. Along with the letter was a gift basket of three assorted shinies. The first set comprised three bottles of red Cassa Montsur, 1948- an exceptionally rare vintage, owing to most of it going up in smoke during the First Argic War. The second set was several boxes of Altarian cigars, of tobacco blended with the finest oak cask-aged Alharun Perique. Finally, the piece to really catch the Ensteik's eye was a timepiece, not just any, but a Francoisbourg-make, Audemour-Piquet Millénaire-1900 Series, one of 50 made in the wurld; showing-off a mother-of-pearl dial, an 18-karat white gold bezel, and a gossamer-thin platinum case. Francisco planned to give that piece away after the overtures had finished, but not before getting one of the Ensteiks to notice it around his wrist during the digestif toast.
 

It was quickly decided that all three would make separate trips to Velaheria by a convoluted route to prevent arousing suspicion by the Iverican Home Office, some of which were certainly feeding business trip information to competitors. Changing airlines at Walneria to Stedoria and then a long train ride into Velaheria. It was decided that Maria Fong-Tueres, head of sales, client relations, and Chief of Operations would go first and go with only a retinue of porters to bring the first round of gifts. Maria had the most charisma out of the 4 and would make a connection with the Ensteiks, politely suggesting that the firm would like to arrange further meetings in order to ascertain a very lucrative investment opportunity. She would also conduct a state-sanction visit and tour of the VRG and VPC factories, getting a good view of its operations and face value.
 

Next, they would send in Iago Ramos-Gussman, head of accounting, who would have a brief and sabre fencing spar with the Ensteik's eldest son. After letting him win at least one bout, they would go in for cocktails. It was decided that at the opportune level of his hosts' intoxication, Iago would request taking a peek at the financials, purely to gauge their investment of course. Iago's photographic memory would capture the important details, Enterprise Value, EBITDA, GPM, and others recorded over the last 10 years.
 

At home, Chief Analyst and Head of Research Lam would create the investment thesis and draft the recommendation. From there, the result would determine if Francisco himself would go around asking for Iberic bidders and collecting an initial stake. Once a sizeable number of bids were secured, they'd draft their final pitch to the Ensteiks. Francisco would then use his business visa and meet the textile magnate family in person. The pitch was simple.
 

Francisco would present a third-party verified account of the initial stakes collected and the implied value of the true stake. The offer would be to buy 2% of the holding company's voting shares from the Velaherian government. This would require the Ensteik's vouching and likely a few more cases of Altarian cigars to the right pencil-pushers in the Velharian government, but all in all, it would take more time than stress to accomplish. From there, Sant Ruis Venture & Equity would simply have to create a new business strategy with the help of the Ensteiks. Industry experts, engineers, and an array of other consultants would be brought in to do a thorough shake-down of the enterprises. From there, the steady flow of cash investment from Sant Ruis early pledgers would finance the importing of new machines and other capital. The only way this would work was if the Ensteiks would play along. Together, Sant Ruis and the Ensteiks would own 51% of the ultimate parent holding company, with a pretty clear shot at passing the needed changes at the next board meetings.
 

If you've been following along so far, you might have noticed a few important details left out. What would drive the price up? Who's buying the textiles? You see, while all that was being organised, Francisco and Chief Analyst Lam were testing the waters with some very interested Verdense and Iverican clothing brands. Iberic labour was getting more and more expensive. Soon enough, the clothing industry would need to find a means to keep prices stable. The details of the import-export arrangement, however, are best left for the next storytime.

[Velaheria]

Part II: The Response

Ever since, receiving the drunkard inside the velaherian borders, there was some buzzes in the air, about how a guard suddenly got so rich and how that person came to velaheria in a cargo train, along with several other things that happened simuntaneously at that time, the news reached the upper eschalanse a few days later. The First to take note of this unusual tourist was the head of the Velaherian state security himself, who quickly telegrammed this new arrival to the supreme people's assembly, and to the einsteiks in general, after they came to know about this potentially unusually wealthy visitor. 

Ruharin Von Einsteik, an youngster of 22 years, at that time,  who is the son of one of the key holders of VPC and an supervisor of the labour sector of the VPRG, had noticed his share of profits in having contacts with this individual, and was the first one to "Properly" approach him, and take "good" care of him, and develop a sort of accquiantance with this person, and as he left velaheria, he had already developed a friendship with that person, mostly to further develop his own wealth later on. 

As expected later on, Mr.Ruharin, had secured the job of dealing with outside direct investment deals and offers for the VPC and the VPRG, and waited for the individuals to make their approach on thoughts on investments inside the  velaherian garment industry and its large labour pool. However along at the same time, the other high end political entities were seemingly unknown or uninterested of the fact that had just happened. 

Anyhow, as a letter arrived from the Sant Ruis Venture and Equity group, the einsteiks were seemingly delighted to hear about a potential investment group seeking to do a seperate meeting with them, but the job had already gone on to ruharin, who now knew that it was his job to negotiate those individuals into signing a deal with the VPC and the VPRG regarding deals and future ties, along with the letter came several gifts, among which was the dazzling platinum cased wrist watch, which he kept for himself, and let the others have the rest of the gifts. 

As time progressed, others took interest in the matter as well, along whom was the eldest son of the main property owner/supervisor of the company, Mr.Aldrien Von Einsteik, an established face among the Velaherian elites and an respected person, who was calm and cunning whenever it required, however his son, Mr.Durien Von Einsteik was the exact opposite of that, a hothed and a simple minded dimwit, most people didnt even thought that he would be the person who would take an interest in this things, instead of just spending his time partying around and getting the "fun" that he wanted. However, it was going to be difficult getting hands on those foreign investment cuts, with ruharin in the game as well, so he thought that it would be well awaited if he just did the waiting game, as the main operatives of the company approached him, instead of ruharin, in continuing the deals.

As Miss Maria Fong-Tueres, reached the Nordöm station, she was identified by the Velaherian Peasants Revolutionary Guard, and was escorted safely to the capital, where she met the einsteiks, and Ruharin especially, whom she told about the investments and lucrative oppurtunities, and later Ruharin led her to see the factories and the machinery, in order to assess their value, as she left, she had developed a good relationship with the einsteiks, and a good partnership with ruharin, who hoped to get a decent chunk out of this dealing.

Later on as Mr.Iagos Ramos-Gussman arrived in Velaheria, Ruharin planned to meet with him, but as simple-minded and dumb-skull of a person Durien was, he managed to assort a meeting with him, and had quality time spear fencing with him, and later going for the cocktails, getting heavily intoxicated, however, later on as he gained his sense, he came to see that his plan was actually working, and that he was indeed given more priority to than ruharin. 

Seeing the future oppurtunity, the einsteiks, decided to have a set of talks with the VPP upper politicians, and after getting a fair share of bribes from the Sant Ruis venture and equity group, they agreed to sell 2% of the shares to the sant Ruis equity group, with essentially them now making the VPC and the VPRG as private companies, rather than state owned investments, further talks were also held, along with others getting interested in the growing oppurtunity as well, with the einsteiks helping the sant ruis group, set up a good buisness strategy and arranging for the labour required for further expansions of the infrastructuee of the companies, as the sant ruis group financed the import of major machinery and other important assets inside the nation, with the ensuing profits gained by the two enterprises eventually increasing multiple times as a result of the subsequent liberalization of the velaherian economy.