Comment by skeeter2020

The hit from above-market leases vs. owning the land might be clearly visible in hindsight, but that's not necessarily true looking into the future. A buyer could have focused on the economies of scale from being in the seafood business and actually thought "we're not a real estate companye, and rentals are preferable in this inflated market". The got all that current debt off the books in exchange for future liabilities; that could also have looked good.

>> PE firm can sell the business before the chickens come home to roost.

It's really no different from pump and dump. Founders love it because it unlocks a huge pay-out without the hassle, costs and reporting obligations from going public, but if you've worked at a company before and then after a major PE investment it's universally worse IME.