My first (knowing) run in with PE-owned businesses was with my local veterinarian. We’ve used them for years, and always had good experiences with them. Over the past few years, I noticed prices increased substantially, which I attributed to general post-COVID inflation. The last time we were there, one of the new vets gave us this… rehearsed pitch… on why we should pay them $2000 to anesthetize our dog and have his teeth cleaned.

It turns out they were purchased by a PE group right around the big price increases and are now on to various upsell strategies.

I’m only half kidding when I say they should have to put a prominent “Private Equity” sticker on their front door or something to warn the public.