“My sense is that the smart money has already hit the doors and this is nothing other than a thinly veiled cash out. Just curious.”

That is what I’ve read on other economic blogs as well and it seems to fit all things considered.

Regarding Private Equity, I work for a well known start up in San Diego and I’ve heard the CFO talk about private equity with some degree of disdain. Basically, what he said was that if you as a business owner / entrepreneur get involved with Private Equity guys, then don’t expect to make much money (ROI). In all liklihood, those leaches have financially engineered the deal such that they receive most of the benefits of sucess and little or no risk if failure ensues.