[fakedang]

As comment below mentioned, DIY it. While the problem is "PE bad, hurr Durr", what usually happens is veteran plumbing, HVAC, etc businesses with loyal clientele get bought out for a pretty sum by the PE firm. I wouldn't fault them - why would you "work for yourself" when you could just take a nice 7 figure sum and retire or do something else? If your employees don't like it, they can go the same route and start their own thing - which will eventually get bought by PE too.

These are people who never had an exit opportunity before finally finding a way to sell their business for a nice lumpsum, instead of having to live job to job.

The only losers here are the customers and some of the employees, especially those who are undocumented.