Basically, the company had to pay for its own buyout when private equity firms KKL, Vornado, and Bain bought the company for $6.6 billion, mostly with loans.

Because the company then had to pay off those extreme loans, they were forced to sell off their assets and property, which they leased back from the very private equity firms that now owned them.

The same thing happened more recently with Red Lobster and JoAnn Fabrics.

  • Crozekiel@lemmy.zip
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    3 hours ago

    The fact that they can buy a company by going into debt and immediately transfer the debt to the company is fucking insane. Maybe we need to figure out how we as individuals can do that and just fucking crash the lending industry entirely? Can I make my house buy itself for me and then “whoopsie, the house can’t pay the bills, guess it will file for bankruptcy and hand me a big ol’ stack of cash”.

    • groet@feddit.org
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      2 hours ago

      That’s how landlords work.

      Take loan, buy houses, house has to pay back loan via rent, rent is paid for by renter.

      Landlord gets house for free, everything paid by renter.

    • explodicle@sh.itjust.works
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      2 hours ago

      They will never, ever give us equal rules willingly. The only way that’s going to happen is if we build a new financial system, immune to their Pinkertons and police.

    • SippyCup@lemmy.ml
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      3 hours ago

      I’m not going to say exactly what it would take, but it rhymes with Bolotov Cocktail