[stephen_g]

In a leveraged buyout you actually buy out the company so you take the risk of the debt and the sellers get the cash... Trying to do a 50% cash, 50% share deal, (where the shares hold the debt that generated the cash) is asking eBay's shareholders to be paid with cash borrowed from themselves!

[rtkwe]

This pattern of acquiring a company via debt financed on the value of the company is a leveraged buyout, is far from new and it's definitely quite corrosive to the finances of the new company. The pattern that plays out time and time again is the new debt from the acquisition severely hampers the new entity's ability to actually make the changes that might save them other than the chance to be raided by the buyer's management firm of choice.