Just poking around on Lexis, I came across the press release below from July 1999 -- 5 months after Romney was supposed to have left Bain. It is a release detailing the departure of two top Managing Directors of Bain Capital. But it quotes Mitt Romney, in his role as CEO (on a part time leave of absence), as wishing them luck on their new endeavor, and expressing desire to continue working with them.
This does not sound like a guy who left the CEO job in February. In fact, part of his part time leave included commenting for the public record as the CEO of the firm.
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Business Wire -- July 19, 1999, Monday
Geoffrey S. Rehnert and Marc B. Wolpow Team Up to Start New Private Equity Firm
LENGTH: 442 words
DATELINE: BOSTON
July 19, 1999--Geoffrey S. Rehnert and Marc B. Wolpow announced that they have resigned as Managing Directors from Bain Capital, Inc. and will become Special Limited Partners of the firm. Mr. Rehnert has been associated with Bain Capital, a leading private investment firm based in Boston, since its inception in 1984; Mr. Wolpow joined in 1990. At the same time, Mr. Rehnert and Mr. Wolpow announced they will be forming a new firm, the Audax Group, initially focusing on private equity for middle market companies.
"It is with mixed emotions that we are moving on to a new and exciting venture," said Mr. Rehnert. "Marc and I are very proud of the roles we have played building Bain Capital into a world class organization. However, we are very excited to start our own firm, the Audax Group, which we plan to build into a leading company in its own right. We are also looking forward to working with Bain Capital in a complementary fashion."
Mr. Wolpow added, "We believe the Audax Group will play a pivotal role in the middle market for private equity buy-outs and that the market there remains relatively underserved. We expect to work with our former Bain Capital col-leagues as partners on future investment transactions and appreciate their support in helping us establish our new com-pany."
Bain Capital CEO W. Mitt Romney, currently on a part-time leave of absence to head the Salt Lake City Olympic Committee for the 2002 Games said, "Geoff and Marc have each made very significant contributions to the growth of our business, and have played important roles in furthering its success. In particular, Geoff, who helped us to start Bain Capital played a key role in building our franchise and led several of our highly successful transactions. Marc brought extensive capital markets expertise to the firm, where he co-headed our mezzanine efforts and played a critical role in conceiving and helping to start Sankaty Advisors, our high yield asset business, which now has over $ 2 billion under management. While we will miss them, we wish them well and look forward to working with them as they build their firm."
CONTACT: Regan Communications
D'Jamila Salem Fitzgerald, (617) 742-8180
or
Bain Capital, Inc.
Josh Bekenstein, (617) 572-2104
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