A national campaign to stop investments in private equity prison profiteers


TARGET
Platinum Equity, owners of predatory prison and jail telecom corporation Securus

One in three families with an incarcerated loved one goes into debt trying to stay connected thanks to the egregious cost of prison and jail communication. There are just a handful of corporations behind this predatory business. Aventiv Technologies (also known as Securus Technologies), owned by Platinum Equity, is among the largest and engages in many of the industries most predatory practices.

IMPORTANT! After years of criticism, Platinum Equity is now looking to offload Aventiv in a SPAC merger with the Atlantic Avenue Acquisition Corporation (NYSE: ASAQ). We urge investors to critically review and reject this merger. Please review our Alternative Investor Presentation and contact us for more information.

WINS

  • Following pressure from artists and activists, Tom Gores resigned from LACMA due to his active participation in the prison industry.

  • In early 2020, the market responded to advocacy pressure and Securus' leverage loan debt plummeted, forcing Platinum Equity to restructure the corporation and start crisis management.

  • The Pennsylvania State Employees Retirement System refused to commit a single penny of its $27 billion fund to Platinum Equity, depriving the private equity firm of a proposed $150 million investment!

COVID-19 HAS CREATED NEW URGENCY around our efforts as private equity firms that own prison profiteers do little to nothing to ensure the health and well-being of incarcerated people and their families. In response, we issued letters to Platinum Equity, American Securities, HIG Capital, BlueMountain Capital, and Apax Partners demanding they take actions respective to each of their businesses.

Who is Tom Gores? He is the Detroit Pistons owner and billionaire Founder and CEO of Platinum Equity, a private equity firm that owns one of the largest, most predatory prison telecom corporations in the U.S. — Securus.Through Securus, Tom Gores exp…
 
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PLATINUM EQUITY is a Beverly Hills-based private equity firm run by Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores. The firm owns Securus, one of the largest prison telecom corporations in the country. Securus extracts more than $700 million every year from millions of people struggling to maintain contact with loved ones behind bars, much of which is funneled by into law enforcement through corporate kickbacks. It also employs threatening surveillance products and practices, including call recording and voice biometrics, and has, in past, illegally location tracked incarcerated people and the loved ones they communicate with.

CAMPAIGN History

Platinum Equity acquired Securus in November 2017 for $1.6 billion. Almost immediately, Platinum Equity sought to acquire another major prison telecom corporation: ICSolutions. But in April 2019, the acquisition was blocked by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) after it agreed with Worth Rises and other criminal justice advocates who argued that the deal was not in the public’s interest.

The blocked deal pushed Platinum Equity to engage with Worth Rises. We spent ten months in meetings and calls, discussing operational reforms with little progress to show. At the same time, Platinum Equity was fundraising its next flagship fund, so we met with their investors too. We focused on three of their largest investors and made headway with each. Eventually, the Pennsylvania State Employees Retirement System denied Platinum Equity a $150 million investment due to their ownership of Securus.

By fall 2019, amid an onslaught of bad media, Securus’ valuation plummeted with its first lien debt trading at a 32 percent discount at its low and second lien debt trading even lower. Platinum Equity responded desperately with an aggressive public image campaign, including a corporate restructuring under a new holding company: Aventiv Technologies.

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In November 2019, our conversation continued and Platinum Equity founder and CEO Tom Gores agreed to meet with directly impacted families facilitated by Worth Rises. But after months of planning, in January 2020, he cancelled the meeting. Shortly after, Aventiv announced a vague transformation agenda and Platinum Equity abruptly ended conversations with advocates. We were left with no choice but to escalate our advocacy against Aventiv, Platinum Equity, and Gores.

Things took a turn in March 2020, when the pandemic changed the world. Media attention was diverted and the suspension of visits at prisons and jails drove the use of Aventiv’ products and services. The pandemic helped Aventiv bounce back, driving a 10 percent increase in revenue year-over-year. In other words, as families were struggling financially and emotionally, Aventiv and Platinum Equity were raking it in.

So, in September 2020, we called on the board of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) to remove Gores in light of his prison profiteering. Hundreds of renown artists, collectors, art journalists, and others from the art world joined the effort by issuing their own demand letter for his resignation. Despite his protest, in just 29 days, the board forced Gores to resign.

Shortly after, in December 2020, we called on the National Basketball Association (NBA) to force Gores to sell the Detroit Pistons unless he divests from Securus. Gores is now fighting to retain his ownership, asking for patience and pushing the same lies he gave the LACMA board to league executive.

Then, in October 2021, Bloomberg leaked the news that Platinum Equity is looking to offload Aventiv in a SPAC merger with Atlantic Avenue Acquisition Corp (NYSE: ASAQ). We are in the process of meeting with the SPAC managers and major investors.

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Who is Tom Gores?

TOM GORES is the Detroit Pistons owner and billionaire founder and CEO of Platinum Equity, a private equity firm that owns one of the largest, most predatory prison telecom corporations in the U.S. — Securus.

Through Securus, Tom Gores exploits millions of incarcerated people and their loved ones by routinely charging as much as $15 for a 15-minute phone call. Securus price-gouges families struggling to stay in touch with an incarcerated loved one, who are disproportionately Black and Brown, causing one in three into debt. The pandemic and economic fallout has worsened this abuse as prisons and jails have suspended visits, limiting family contact to costly calls.

Prison Phone Companies Are Recording Attorney-Client Calls Across the US
VICE - December 13, 2021

A For-Profit Prison Company is Going Public via SPAC, Raising ESG Concerns in the Blank-Check Space
CNBC - December 1, 2021

Opinion: The Staggeringly High Price of a Prison Phone Call
Washington Post - November 30, 2021

Prison Phone Company Securus is Said to be in SPAC Merger Talks
Bloomberg - October 30, 2021

Legislators Push to Make Phone Calls in New York’s Jails and Prisons Free
New York Focus - October 14, 2021

Can a Nonprofit Disrupt the Pricey Prison Phone Industry?
Bloomberg - September 8, 2021

COVID Froze Prison Visits, Spotlighting High Cost of Phone Calls
PEW - August 4, 2021

The Lines of Connection
The Atlantic - July 29, 2021

Telecom Vendors Used End of Prison Visits During COVID to Profit Off Phone Calls
Truthout - July 24, 2021

The Pandemic Isolated Incarcerated People. Kentucky And Securus Cashed In
Louisville Public Radio - July 14, 2021

The High Cost of Phone Calls in Prisons Generates $1.4 Billion a Year, Disproportionately Driving Women and People of Color Into Debt
Business Insider - June 23, 2021

TED Talk | Bianca Tylek: The Multibillion-Dollar US Prison Industry — and How to Dismantle It
TED - May 24, 2021

The Prison Phone Kickback Game
Axios - May 20, 2021

Silicon Valley Firm Powers Predatory Prison Video Calls
The American Prospect - May 17, 2021

Comedian Samantha Bee Blasts Detroit Pistons Owner Tom Gores Over Role in Prison Phone Call Injustice
Detroit Metro Times - May 6, 2021

Detroit Pistons Owner Tom Gores Speaks About Controversy Over Securus
Detroit Free Press - February 6, 2021

Tom Gores Hurt After Group Urges Him to Sell Pistons; Promises to Improve Prison Telecom Company
Yahoo! Sports - December 27, 2020

Detroit Pistons Owner Urged To Sell Team Over His Investment In Prison Telecom Firm
NPR - December 24, 2020

Activists Urge Pistons Owner Ousting Over Prison Phones Investment
BET - December 22, 2020

Criminal Justice Advocates Call for Tom Gores to Cut Ties with Prison Phone Company
The National Herald - December 22, 2020

‘If Black Lives Matter, What Are You Doing About Detroit Pistons Owner Tom Gores?’: Advocacy Group Calls out NBA in Full-Page Newspaper Ad
The Root - December 21, 2020

Pistons Owner Tom Gores Earns Millions Sucking the Blood Out of a Broken Prison System
Deadspin - December 21, 2020

Worth Rises Urges Tom Gores to Sell Pistons Due to His Prison Telecom Company
Bleacher Report - December 20, 2020

Advocates Pressure NBA Owners Over Tom Gores’ Prison-Industry Company
The Daily Beast - December 20, 2020

Activists Call on Tom Gores to Sell Pistons Over Platinum Ownership of Phone Company
The Detroit News - December 20, 2020

Prison Reform Activists Take out Full-page Ad Calling for NBA to Oust Pistons Owner Tom Gores
Yahoo! Sports - December 20, 2020

Tom Gores’s Prison Investment Drags NBA Into Controversy
Bloomberg - December 20, 2020

Activists Urge NBA to Oust Pistons Owner Tom Gores Over Prison Phones Investment
Los Angeles Times - December 20, 2020

Activist Calls on NBA to Pressure Sale of Pistons Over Tom Gores' Ownership of Jail Telecom Business
ESPN - December 20, 2020

Tom Gores Departs LACMA Board Over Prison Telecom Connection
Art Forum - October 12, 2020

Detroit Pistons Owner Called to Divest from ‘Racist’ Prison Phone Company as NBA Navigates BLM
Detroit Metro Times - October 12, 2020

If the NBA Stands for Racial Justice, What About Tom Gores?
The Nation - October 12, 2020

Tom Gores Resigns From LACMA Board Over Artist, Activist Outcry
WWD - October 9, 2020

Tom Gores, Owner of Prison Telecom Company, Resigns From LACMA Board
Hyperallergic - October 9, 2020

Billionaire Tom Gores Resigns from LACMA’s Board Amid Prison Telecom Controversy
Los Angeles Magazine - October 9, 2020

Detroit Pistons Owner Tom Gores Steps Down from L.A. Art Museum Board After Public Pressure
Detroit Free Press - October 9, 2020

LACMA Board Member Resigns Amid Outcry Over Investment in Prison Phone Company
Art News - October 9, 2020

Tom Gores Resigns from LACMA Board Over Prison Phones Investment
Los Angeles Times - October 9, 2020

Collectors, Artists Push LACMA to Nix Billionaire Board Member
WWD - September 17, 2020

Groups Call for Removal of LACMA Trustee Tied to ‘Exploitative’ Telecommunications Company
The Art Newspaper - September 17, 2020

Major Artists Demand LACMA Remove Board Member who Owns Prison Telecom Company
Hyperallergic - September 16, 2020

A Billionaire Could Lose LACMA Board Seat Over his Prison Phone Investment
Los Angeles Times - September 16, 2020

Artists and Activists are Calling for a Billionaire Businessman’s Ouster from LACMA’s Board
Los Angeles Magazine - January 21, 2020

Prison Industry Deal Drags L.A. Billionaire into Elizabeth Warren’s Campaign
Los Angeles Times - October 19, 2019

Platinum Equity Reorganizes Prison-Phone Company Targeted by Elizabeth Warren
The Wall Street Journal - October 10, 2019

State Employee Retirement Board Balks at Investing in Prison-Linked Private Equity Firm
Pennsylvania Capital-Star - September 27, 2019

Pennsylvania Pension Passes on Platinum Equity Investment Amid Prison-Phone Controversy
The Wall Street Journal - September 24, 2019

Troubled Companies Made Him Billions. A Prison Phone Investment Made Him Enemies
Los Angeles Times - September 5, 2019

PSERS Latest Investments Don’t Align with What Union Members Want
Philadelphia Inquirer - August 14, 2019

NYC Pensions to Expand Prison Investment Ban with Platinum Equity
Bloomberg - June 18, 2019

Pennsylvania Pension Wants Platinum Equity’s Answers on Prison Phone Operator
The Wall Street Journal - May 28, 2019

Platinum Defends Prison Buyout as Activists Target New Fund
Bloomberg - May 16, 2019

How Private Equity is Turning Public Prisons into Big Profits
The Nation - May 13, 2019

Private equity firms and their investors have increased their investments in the prison industry in recent years, with a catastrophic impact. In acquiring these companies and their competitors to increase their own profits, private equity firms have significantly manipulated the landscape of the prison industry. They have consolidated the correctional telecom, healthcare, and commissary markets, among others, leading to considerable monopoly concerns.

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Private equity firms use capital from pension funds, foundations, university endowments, and other institutional investors to “flip” private companies much like a contractor flips properties. After buying a company, a private equity firm will spend 4-6 years acquiring its competitors and increasing profitability before selling the company for a large profit.

Who’s investing
in Securus?
You are.

And unlike public companies traded on the stock market, private companies are typically shielded from public scrutiny and oversight, but their institutional investors still create vulnerabilities and pressure points.

This tangled web of investments means there is a good chance you’re invested in the prison industry without even knowing it.