The Springfield bureau of Lee Enterprises reports that a review of court records and news accounts found a dozen of hundreds of companies owned by the GTCR firm went bankrupt during or soon after Rauner's 20-year tenure at the company. A federal bankruptcy trial regarding one of the firms, Trans Healthcare Inc., is unfolding this week in Tampa, Florida.
Rauner served as a board member on seven of the dozen companies, the review found. Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, Rauner's opponent in the November election, has tried to make the Winnetka venture capitalist's business management record an issue in the campaign, just as Rauner has criticized Quinn's management of state government.
The Quinn campaign claims that the Trans Healthcare case is evidence that Rauner does not take responsibility for problems with his businesses. But Rauner spokesman Mike Schrimpf argues that Rauner has seen far more successes than failures as an investor.
GTCR, from which Rauner officially retired in 2012, works by creating new companies or acquiring existing ones and later selling them or taking them public. It also manages money from Illinois state employees' retirement funds. The campaign says GTCR created and oversaw "hundreds'' of companies. Rauner put the figure at around 400 in an appearance earlier this month.
