• Fedizen@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            10 months ago

            My understanding: In the case of Cerberus they wanted the original company to look less profitable’ Afaik this is one of many accounting trick to make the portion of the business with the most negotiable costs (such as labor) as unprofitable as possible on paper so they can justify things like pension cuts. By splitting it up it obfuscates the finances to the unions and gives a negotiating advantage without really damaging investor profits and they can then sell the now more risky corporation off while keeping the real estate as part of their portfolio.

            Like its not always this blatant and there’s also some tax incentives and other things mixed in there but overall the goal of most businesses since the 80s is to move more money from wages —> profits. If they can consolidate the market a little as well, that’s bonus. “Competition is sin” after all.