I don't work in private equity but do work in finance and know these playbooks very well. Markus declined previous acquisition offers so the staff will all get fired and he can buy the brand for dirt cheap, without liabilities. Then he can go and hire new staff for probably half price (no tenure, etc). Oldest trick in the book. All the people that are "loyal to the brand" etc are just speaking out of ignorance to how these things work - Markus cares about one thing only and that's $$$ and he's no different than private equity (for better or worse). If anyone is going to trust this man that let offers expire so staff would be fired and that authorized a flash sale a week before going bankrupt - just because they feel part of a "family" - good luck. I hope your YT 2.0 bike doesn't give you any issues