Local Businesses Are Revolting Against Private Equity Buyouts

Jay Cunningham says he’s fielded hundreds of calls and emails over the years from private equity firms poking around his Atlanta-area plumbing business. He wagers he could fetch tens of millions of dollars for Superior Plumbing, freeing up time for him to see his grandkids, say, or travel more to New York. But Cunningham refuses to make a deal with a buyout firm. Going from independent to PE-owned, he says, would be bad for his employees—including several of his adult children—as well as the wider community. “I’ve resisted selling, because of the people that work for me,” Cunningham, 64, says, ...