Exactly, and grandparent post was a great question. Another nasty dimension (in the LBO model referenced) is that by playing crazy financial games the PE firms can often wager very little of their own money AND take money off the table fast by issuing dividends. So it's basically a low-risk / risk-free way to suck the blood out of a company.

In my experience whether you think that PE is lawful neutral or flat-out lawful evil tends to come down to your opinion on the most brutal forms of capitalism...