Bull.
Leveraged buy-outs (LBO's) are a legitimate way of capitalizing acquisitions.
They've been around for a very long time. I worked on some back in the early to mid 80's. My French (ex) Father-in-Law in Paris used the technique to acquire a company at the end of the 80's.
The big question is what do you do with it after the acquisition. Run it, or flip it?
Many run it (management LBO's). Others fix and flip. And if you really fixed, and did not lie in any way about it's financial condition, what happens after the sale is all on the buyer.
An LBO is nothing more than a financing mechanism. With an LBO, like ALL forms of purchase, someone (shareholder ultimately) is on the hook for the money. An LBO is at simplest just using a business's assets to secure the purchase money.
At the end of the day, there is little difference whether the shareholders put up their personal assets as collateral, or put up their assets held within the corporate shell: They are still at risk. (The latter structure may, however, offer shareholder some personal relief to the extent the assets are insufficient to cover the debt.)
Fern
