Most PE media reports deals. Very little of it judges them.

One of the things I like about Not Very Private Equity is that it actually has a view on deals.

That should not feel unusual.

It does.

Most private equity media stops at description.

Who bought it.
What the multiple might have been.
Which banker advised.
What the press release said.
A few tidy quotes about strategic fit, sector conviction, and exciting next chapters.

Fine.

But was it a good deal?

Was the price sane.
Was the thesis real.
Was the market attractive.
Was this actual conviction or just another fund putting more leverage on a fashionable sector and hoping the next buyer is even more optimistic.

That is the interesting bit.

And it is the bit a lot of PE media avoids.

Partly because neutrality has become the default posture.
Partly because access comes with manners.
Partly because once your business depends on the same ecosystem for sponsorship, subscriptions, and conference revenue, you tend to develop a very careful editorial line.

Not Very Private Equity does not have that problem.

It has no access to protect.
No relationships to manage.
No reason to pretend something looks smart when it does not.

Which means the team can look at a deal and say what it actually looks like.

Not what the press release says it looks like.

Some of these deals are genuinely impressive.
Some are panic dressed up as strategy.
Some are multiple expansion fantasies with a capital structure attached.
Some are perfectly decent businesses bought at a price that turns competence into a rescue mission.

Pretending all of these deserve the same polite treatment is not analysis.

It is just stenography for finance people.

The industry does not need more summaries pretending every deal is thoughtful.

It needs sharper opinions, clearer thinking, and a bit more willingness to say that buying a mediocre business at an absurd price is not a sophisticated strategy just because the sponsor used the word platform.

That is one of the reasons I think Not Very Private Equity is useful.

It is not there to recycle announcements.

It is there to have a view.