I don't think VCs often buy companies but PE firms sure do. One example near me is NXP, a semicon business from Eindhoven (NL) where I live. Philips spun them

I don't think VCs often buy companies but PE firms sure do. One example near me is NXP, a semicon business from Eindhoven (NL) where I live. Philips spun them out after loading them with debt,a PE firm bought them. Radical cost cutting, the usual, but they also accomplished a culture change (to some extent). As a former Philips department, the culture was very slow and bureaucratic, more akin to government than a for-profit business. The new owners made it very clear that from then on, money needed to be earned and anything that didn't contribute to that wasn't worth doing. The company became a fair bit more lean and agile as a result, pushing products and updates faster etc.