Comment by ethbr1

Furthermore, PE ownership generally means (a) achieving ROI as quickly as possible (including by dismantling the company and/or mortgaging its assets), (b) installing leadership who has no ties to the business, and (c) cutting costs to the bone.

It's not just functionally equivalent to an IPO... it's an IPO if all the buying new shareholders were sociopaths.

(Yes, there are the PE companies who run businesses better like Berkshire, but that's far from the most common type of PE)