The private equity business model often relies upon forcing the company to take on massive amounts of debt to give the greatest possible return to the private equity firm, with the long-term survival of the business often not a priority. The debt is often used to pay “special dividends” to the firm itself to cover the initial purchase price, as well as heavy “management fees” placed on the company, to be paid to the private equity firm. Many times brick-and-mortar retail chains have been forced to sell off the buildings that house their stores and pay rents that they can’t afford to new owners, leading to even more store closings and layoffs. “But from a historical point of view, most of these deals result in the company circling the drain.”
Neither Sycamore nor Walgreens had a comment when asked about the history of retailers closing after being taken private.