[obiwan1129]

Companies that I worked for have been acquired twice by PE firms. I can assure you for the rank and file it is no picnic. Usually the PE firm will try to plus up the companies offerings. Someone here already pointed out how they branched out to cards recently. The deal was likely in discussion for a long time and that was a strategic part of it.

Most PE firms try to get in and out within say 5 years. Watch the executives, they start leaving that tells you all you need to know. If increasing the offerings doesn't work out, they will do the Gordon Gecko thing and try to sell off the pieces.

It's a good deal for the owners and probably some of the executive leadership there but I figure given all the uncertainty with new overlords coming in, how they manage, etc we'll be seeing a lot of folks heading out. It's the nature of the beast.