Great question.
Now maybe I have bad news for you.
Better sit down…
I knew I had read about such a constellation somewhere. Exactly this scenario that in specific cases it is possible that the company that has been bought ends up to bear the cost of its own acquistion.
Then I asked AI which confirmed.
Then I searched for more confirmation.
I am not 100% convinced yet but maby this has happened: Leveraged buyout - Wikipedia
https://www.reddit.com/r/TikTokCringe/comments/1jdxuz3/comment/mnk56s8
This is the other “common” way to take over a company - PE firm sets up a shell company that takes out the loan from a bank to cover whatever cost is involved in acquiring the company, and the collateral for said loan(s) is/are almost always the future earnings of said company being bought out.
Once the purchase is complete, the shell company and the newly-acquired company merge since both are now wholly owned by the PE firm so no one is left to object, and the debt used to acquire the company is now leveraged on the company that was purchased.
It’s just speculation that this is what happened but could it fit?