#privateequity

I am concerned if private equity will by HIS off of Solventum ever since they announced the split.

I noticed they took down a post where someone saw Advent employees on site in SJ

No concerns about WFRs anymore - peaceful retirement in ~3 yrs.

Wall St insiders say Sycamore is shopping Staples. Syc sees end game for value by ‘28. Anyone else hearing anything?

GCC syphoning $$$$ at light speed, triggering Syc bailing.

If the workforce collectively refuses to sign the promissory notes or buy into the new Class B LP structure, the firm's engineered restructuring playbook faces a critical roadblock. Management cannot easily absorb the capital shortfall, leading to a predictable sequence of operational and financial outcomes.

1. The Buyout Capital Shortfall

The entire structural transition relies on employee debt to fund the exit package for the retiring founders and legacy General Partners.

• Frozen Payouts: If associates refuse the loans, the capital pool remains empty. The legacy partners cannot convert their illiquid paper wealth into upfront cash.
• Failed Restructuring: The firm cannot execute the internal leveraged transition as planned, leaving the aging ownership stuck holding the risk of a declining asset.

1. A Fast-Tracked Outside Private Equity Fire Sale

Because the owners are determined to achieve liquidity and exit the asset, a failure to sell the firm internally will trigger an immediate pivot to outside buyers.

• Abandoning the Narrative: The "employee-owned" corporate narrative will be completely discarded over a weekend.
• The PE Handover: Management will quietly initiate an aggressive fire sale to a predatory Private Equity (PE) firm or a direct corporate competitor. The old partners will accept a lower valuation just to get cash, handing the remaining skeleton crew over to an outside management team focused strictly on radical cost cutting.

1. The RTO Surveillance State Backfires

The harsh 4-day hourly tracking and the removal of family flexibility were designed to cause "controlled attrition" to thin out payroll liabilities before the transaction.

• The Talent Drain Acceleration: If employees reject the equity offering, the hostile environment loses its only theoretical financial incentive.
• Operational Collapse: High-performing and specialized workers will exit rapidly, leaving the firm as an hollowed-out operational shell that can no longer sustain its client base or defend its valuation to lenders.

1. Technical Default on Bank Covenants

The commercial banks funding the baseline operational loans operate under strict financial covenants tied to firm revenue and margin stability.

• Margin Compression: If productivity collapses because the workforce is disaffected and shrinking, the firm will miss its near-term financial targets.
• Bank Foreclosure: Missing these metrics triggers a technical default. The lending banks retain the legal right to step in, seize corporate assets, remove the Managing Partner, and liquidate the firm's intellectual property to recoup their cash.

1. Increased Internal Hostility and Cash Freezes

In a final, desperate attempt to force profitability metrics into alignment before the timeline expires, the lame-duck Managing Partner will shift from incentivization to absolute financial pressure.

• Total Cash Compensation Freezes: Annual cash bonuses will be entirely eliminated, and baseline salaries will be frozen indefinitely under the guise of "restructuring headwinds."
• Data-Driven Layoffs: A third or fourth round of aggressive terminations will be executed, using the 4-day hourly tracking logs and AI adoption metrics as a paper trail to eliminate headcount without paying severance.

Which is the best (or worst) outcome here: (1) Insight is acquired by a Capgemini, NTT Data, Computacenter, Infosys, or Accenture - say its for their client footprint, onshore presence, vendor logistics, or whatever - or (2) PE steps in. Perhaps its Thoma Bravo, Francisco Partners, KKR, Apollo, etc - for the sake of executing a restructuring and margin optimization buy-and-build strategy without the public stock scrutiny - or (3) things remain the same. The same old same old same old same old Q-after-Q paper cut plan. What is the better option? 1, 2, or 3??? The wide range M&A Premium would place an implied price between $160 to $185/share. Enterprise market cap value minus net debt (~$1.3B) leaves decent forward P/E earnings power. What would you like to see happen? Which would be worse - what might be better?

No one has seen corporate officers out in public or at work centers. Are they hiding in their corporate refugees and private equity firm gated enclaves? They obviously recognize outside their fawning and servile sycophants they are loathed and despised by employees and customers. It is obvious they are going to extreme measures to conceal their whereabouts. We have to face our coworkers and customers everyday. Why do we continue to tolerate cowardly leaders, who have no skin in the game and steal all our profits?

Looking to transition from Merrill to possible portfolio manager 1 position in the private bank. Does anyone know much about PB these days?

Cross Country Healthcare has been acquired by a subsidiary of private equity firm Knox Lane. The transaction will take the company private. Joel Tremblay has been appointed as the new CEO, succeeding co-founder Kevin Clark. This deal was finalized after shareholders approved the merger. The acquisition is valued at $437 million.

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/mergers-acquisitions/mh-healthcare-deals-live-updates/

Topgolf has recently undergone significant changes following its acquisition by private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners. The company's new CEO, David McKillips, implemented a layoff of 300 employees to streamline management layers and reduce costs. This move is part of a broader strategy to reset the business plan and optimize operations under private ownership. Despite the workforce reduction, Topgolf plans to continue its global expansion, opening new venues domestically and internationally. The company aims to balance growth with a focus on enhancing the guest experience.

Dallas, Texas

https://finance.yahoo.com/small-business/articles/topgolf-ceo-dishes-private-equity-165213733.html

Thoughts? https://medium.com/@gib.bassett/alteryx-after-private-equity-customers-shouldnt-panic-but-they-shouldn-t-be-passive-18744cbfef67

Private Equity apparently putting up decent chunk of cash.

I keep seeing posts about PE as a savior.

Question, have any of you worked in PE? It ain't fun.

Reminds me of the line in good fellas ..

Business bad? Fu-k you, pay me. Oh, you had a fire? Fu-k you, pay me. Place got hit by lightning, huh? Fu-k you, pay me.

Say good bye to good benefits, PSP, stock options (oh yeah, yours will be worth nothing), probably a reset on PTO...

And if it does turn around, you won't see a penny

Please don't let SAS be gutted by private equity like they already did to many other companies.

How Private Equity Gutted Local Malls: Joann Fabrics, Red Lobster, Claire's, and More.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_7SQDuUKQs

What are the chances CDW goes private again or gets bought out by a larger company or private equity group?

Many jobs sent to the Philippines because it is cheaper , pushed the CEO out bc KKR investment firm

Topgolf recently laid off hundreds of employees across its U.S. venues. These cuts impacted roles in sales, hospitality, operations, events, and customer experience. The layoffs occurred months after private equity firm Leonard Green acquired majority ownership. This action follows a previous round of 300 job cuts last year. New CEO David McKillips also replaced the company's top technology and marketing executives.

Dallas, Texas

https://www.dmagazine.com/micropost/top-golf-layoffs-may-2026/

Siemens Building Technologies Division follows JCI in negotiations with private equity for sale. The long standing Building Automation Division and Building Technology Sector face massive restructuring prior to divestment. Announcements to be released in 2027.

950 people being laid off as of tomorrow. Otherwise known as how Private Equity bankrupted a once great company

Stefano Pessina vows to rebuild ‘all the value’ lost at his Boots empire https://share.google/tVf43dzmGFX0ayEog

Private equity is indeed ruthless, and Mr. SP won't go away.

Rumors swirling robotics will be spun out for IPO or private equity.

Unfortunately the news article is paywalled. But how exactly do they plan to double profits? More cutbacks?? Is this the part where private equity starts doing what they do best, cut everything down to nothing to maximize profits?? Here is the link to the article but sorry it's paywalled.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-02/walgreens-private-equity-owner-plans-to-double-chain-s-profits

With stock price halved, Kyndryl is a very attractive options for Private Equities and India IT chop shops that would love to have the sticky managed services clients. What are your thoughts?

RV joins the company, lays people off, reduces benefits, saves on costs, and raises service fees. Once the stock price goes up, he’ll sell his shares and leave

Another 52 week low with the stock today and has fallen under major support

If it continues to fall then it very likely PE take over, strip the company to bare bones and break it up for parts

https://pestakeholder.org/media_coverage/walgreens-layoffs-confirm-concerns-after-private-equity-buyout/

I've never seen or heard of a private equity takeover that didn't gut the company. Always ends in disaster. Unless you're a cash cow with zero effort, which we're definitely not.

Does anyone actually have good feeling about this takeover this whole operational readiness is turning out to be a operational disaster month

In a move that underscores the continued volatility of the American retail pharmacy landscape, the newly private Walgreens Boots Alliance has announced a significant expansion of its workforce reductions and a finalized timeline for its massive store closure initiative. Under the leadership of the private equity firm Sycamore Partners, which completed a landmark $10 billion acquisition of the company in August 2025, Walgreens is slashing hundreds of additional corporate roles and shuttering a major distribution hub as it battles the systemic pressures that have already claimed several of its former peers.

https://markets.financialcontent.com/sandiego/article/marketminute-2026-2-23-walgreens-accelerates-restructuring-as-sycamore-partners-intensifies-store-closures-and-corporate-layoffs

Just venting. I know I will change nothing. I know they do not care but there you have it. This $$$ concept is a cancer.

Oh, well...

• Walgreens is laying off 469 employees across multiple states following its acquisition by Sycamore Partners, adding to prior job cuts and store closures.
• Since the buyout closed last August, Walgreens has reduced its footprint from about 8,500 stores and 220,000 employees to roughly 8,000 stores and 211,000 workers.
• The Private Equity Stakeholder Project warned that earlier cost cutting steps, including holiday pay reductions, signaled deeper workforce reductions under private equity ownership.

Walgreens is laying off hundreds of employees. These job cuts affect staff in Texas and Illinois. A WARN notice indicates 159 layoffs in Houston. An additional 469 positions are being eliminated in Illinois. These actions follow the company's acquisition by Sycamore Partners.
Houston, Texas

https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/walgreens-lay-hundreds-across-two-states

It's only just begun....tough way to live with a company like this now don't you think people. They care less about employee's that is obvious,

What’s this rumor I hear about private equity buying a small section/divisions of L3H like Black Rock did with Raytheon and their Nightwing division here in Melbourne Florida.

This comment on another post [Post ID: @OP+1kh9rs9x2] is a very good factual summary. I like how the OG poster explained how/why/what/when that led to the Chapter 11 and going Private. Pretty stunned that, despite all the verifiable facts and SEC Filings that some people still believe (see comments) the Chapter 11 was a choice and that Alan Masarek had any other option available to him. Jim Chicago & Kieran McGrath were protected by the Chapter 11 Filing. If not, they would not have escaped criminal charges brought by the SEC (note -- different than civil suits they have escaped). Avaya would have liquidated without the chapter 11 due to the irregularities in the SEC filings.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
August 9, 2022 SEC 12b-25
NOTIFICATION OF LATE FILING

"Furthermore, and separately [from the delayed 10-Q SEC Earnings Report Filing] the Audit Committee has also commenced an internal investigation to review matters related to a whistleblower letter that remains ongoing"

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418100/000141810022000083/formnt10-q3q22.htm

Apollo and it's army of organizations that conspire to take over companies "stepped in" by creating an entrapment to force Alan Masarek's hand into allowing the Chapter 11 so they could steal equity and take Avaya private.

TIMELINE REMINDER

1. The Subscription game-- which was a risky short-term strategy to falsely inflate the Market Valuation of Avaya so the greedy BoD and C-Suite could sell Avaya for north of $5b -- caught up to them and they had nowhere to hide in March 2022. Now IF they could book an enormous deal they could have extended the charade for another few quarters. That deal was to be Wells Fargo, if memory serves. So they delayed earnings in hopes to find an accounting workaround to explain away the unexplainable math that was the earnings reality. NOTE -- They spent since late 2019 fudging the numbers based on an algorithm of subscription-economy math that assumed a set value for each base client multiplied by market potential for signing the base clients to a subscription plan. THESE WERE NOT REAL #'s!!! For many quarters they could escape scrutiny b/c maintenance contracts were still collecting money. But when the first round of the 3 yr subscription deals were up, they were left with evaporated maintenance deals and accelerated client departures. It was one large empty hole.
   In May 2022, the situation hit severe crisis status. There was no explaining away the #s. They needed more than just one enormous deal. The Slippery Slope Subscription game was now a runaway train. The BoD knew they needed something extreme to buy time to avoid being exposed for the 3.5 yr con-game of pretending that the marketing soundbytes of the "subscription economy" translated into real revenue. They initiated the age-old strategy of the CEO-Shuffle and began an aggressive search to name a new CEO before they had to face yet another SEC filing delay. They begin talks with Masarek in May. Hire him in June. Announce him in July. Masarek is up for the challenge and confident he can stabilize Avaya by December .....HOWEVER

2. Apollo Global deploys a leveraged lending takeover plan. It was an unofficial hostile takeover. They are able to secure some of the leveraged lending related to Avaya loans, yet not enough to execute a hostile takeover. So they instead devise a plan to make things so uncomfortable for Avaya leadership that they will just give in. They deploy their go-to auditing firms and dirty PR spin-doctors to both a) find dirt on Avaya to use as leverage; and b) entrap Avaya via auditing. This included names like Alix Partners.

3. August 2022 -- Internal Audit discloses that Avaya lacked Internal Controls due to a broken process of formally investigating Ethics and Corporate Compliance reports. One example was a "Whistleblower" which filed a formal complaint months (maybe even a year) prior questioning accounting documentation of subscription deals and the risk to the overall business. At the time of the report, it was Shefali Shah's responsibility to ensure the complaint was properly and formally investigated. Instead, it was never even pursued. The independent auditing firm identified the breach of protocol that must be followed by any publicly traded company. Therefore, they were obligated by law to report the breach of protocol to the SEC in their next "we still can't file earnings" extension filing. This is called an "ICFR Weakness
   November 28, 2022 SEC FORM 8-K Avaya Admits to Lack of Internal Controls based on result of investigation. This essentially states that they violated SEC Rules by not pursuing the whistleblower complaint, however stops short that the complaint itself qualified as a whistleblower concern. "The deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting (ICFR) represented “material weaknesses,” the cloud technology company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
   Avaya discloses ICFR weaknesses linked to whistleblower logs Compliance Week

https://www.complianceweek.com/accounting-and-auditing/avaya-discloses-icfr-weaknesses-linked-to-whistleblower-logs/32407.article

1. DECEMBER 2022 Apollo now believes they have Avaya cornered to give in to a Chapter 11 so they could go private and Apollo can deploy their tried and true law firms to manage the filing in their favor. Yet Alan Masarek was not giving in. So Apollo spent December 2022 maneuvering to force AMs hands. The end result of paying AM $10m ($6 m retention bonus so he would stay despite looming bankruptcy & $4m of his original sign-on bonus that he was required to use to buy Avaya shares. They waived that requirement and he was allowed to keep the money as cash. They also awarded Shefali Shah $1.2m as they needed her to help them go after Jim Chirico if that was necessary.

Avaya CEO To Get $6 Million Cash Award As Potential Bankruptcy Looms https://www.channelfutures.com/regulation-compliance/avaya-ceo-to-get-6-million-cash-award-stock-falls-below-nyse-minimum

SO @ab IS SPOT IN. THE WHISTLEBLOWER WAS REAL. IT WAS THE Everything. without that Whistleblower report Internal Controls Snafu, Apollo wouldn't have had the chance to deploy their gremlins to force AM into a takeover (also known as conspired Chapter 11).

Store Manager/RXM bonus this year is 75% based on "company numbers" that this private company controls and self reports.

Only 25% of the bonus is based on your store or pharmacy.

Do you trust Sycamore?

Have they been transparent and trustworthy?

Their #1 goal is IPO and staging the numbers for the underwriters that determine their IPO value.

Low expenses and cutting payroll helps them accomplish their goal.

Anyone else have doubt about investing in LP in 2027? I’ve been looking forward to it but now I’m not sure I’m comfortable putting my money in.

How do I know it won’t be wasted or used to further compensate already wealthy GPs? LP has worked out great for associates in the past but part of me thinks it’s a trap.

Private equity will destroy you, just as it destroys everything else

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/private-equity/hitachi-is-said-to-seek-buyer-for-1-3-billion-data-storage-unit

After a decade of mismanagement, Hitachi Vantara will seize to exist. From Brian Householder, Gajen Kandiah, to Sheila Rohra and her buddy Octavian, a string of incompetent leaders have eroded the company to a tired, irrelevant, skeleton with employees waiting for their turn at the chopping block.

Question is who will be interested in a dying business with small margins… Private equity? Broadcom? The other verdors will certainly want to spend their acquisition budget elsewhere. And without the Hitachi name, who will be interested in just Vantara? And for what? Their fabulous storage products, enterprise address book?

The recent round of layoffs and integration of ITPro make sense all of a sudden! It’s very sad for the employees though…

The Titanic is finally going under and will fall to pieces below the surface. Bye, bye, Vantara!

So with Boots being the biggest money maker for them, I heard rumors that they were going to maybe IPO Boots? What do you think (hypothetically) the plan would be for the other two? Since these 3 would be where Sycamore can extract value from, I assume Walgreens would be fattened with debt and left to be gutted? Unless they have any aspiration of trying to save it.......

What do you guys think? Trying to understand how a PE would try to extract value with this deal.