Blackstone

Merlin Entertainments

Analysts 'understandably wary of investing in a debt-laden company that has passed through so many private equity owners.' Acquired Legoland, merged with Madame Tussauds.

4+ financial owners in 8 years. Each pass added debt.

Medline Industries

$34B take-private — the largest PE-backed healthcare deal ever. Three mega-firms needed to split the equity check. Heavily levered medical supply distributor in a margin-compressed industry. The Mills family took chips off the table; PE is holding the bag at peak multiples.

Active — consortium holding at $34B. Largest PE healthcare deal in history. IPO path unclear.

Freescale Semiconductor

Four of the world's largest PE firms teamed up to buy Freescale for $17.6B in 2006 — the largest tech LBO at the time. Loaded with $12B in debt on a cyclical semiconductor business. The 2008 crisis crushed chip demand. Near-bankruptcy in 2009, survived through debt exchanges. Sold to NXP in 2015 for $11.8B — a $5.8B loss from the LBO price. The consortium collected hundreds of millions in fees while the business was strangled by interest payments. Semiconductors need massive R&D investment; PE gave it massive debt service instead.

Absorbed into NXP at $11.8B — 33% below the $17.6B LBO price. Four PE firms lost billions.

SunGard Data Systems

SEVEN PE firms needed to buy SunGard for $11.3B. The largest PE club deal by number of sponsors. Loaded with $7.2B in debt. Cloud computing disrupted the on-premise financial software model, and the company couldn't invest in technology under the debt load. Sold piecemeal — FIS acquired the financial services unit for $9.1B (below LBO price), other divisions sold or shuttered. When seven of the world's smartest firms all agree on a deal and still lose money, maybe the model is the problem.

Effectively dismantled. Sold to FIS in 2015 for $9.1B — 20% below LBO price. PE consortium lost billions.

TeamHealth

Blackstone took TeamHealth private for $6.1B in 2017, loading it with $4B in debt. The physician staffing model relied on aggressive out-of-network billing — charge patients inflated rates, knowing insurance would pay a fraction. The 2022 No Surprises Act killed that revenue stream overnight. TeamHealth couldn't service its debt without the billing arbitrage. Debt trades at 50-60 cents. Blackstone's equity is likely worth pennies. The same fate as KKR's Envision: PE took a healthcare company private, levered it to the sky, and got wiped out by regulatory change. Healthcare is not a car wash.

Deeply distressed. $7B+ in debt. Restructuring discussions ongoing. No Surprises Act crushed the revenue model. Blackstone equity likely worth near zero.

Hilton Hotels

Blackstone bought Hilton for $26B in July 2007 — months before the financial crisis. The deal was immediately underwater. Hilton's value dropped to $5-6B by 2009. Blackstone was forced to inject $800M in equity and renegotiate $20B in debt. By all rights, this should have been a catastrophic loss. Instead, the global travel recovery and Chris Nassetta's management saved it. Blackstone IPO'd Hilton in 2013 and eventually booked $14B in profit. Blackstone credits their 'operational expertise.' The truth is they bought at the worst possible time and got bailed out by the longest bull market in history. Survivorship bias is not a strategy.

Public. Market cap ~$55B. Blackstone's best deal ever — $14B profit. But the timing was pure luck, not skill.