First, private equity holds us to ransom. Now it wants us to bail out its losses | Will Hutton

It is the richest business in the UK – but now its debts are weighing it downIt could be your local Pizza Express, the home caring for a cherished relative, your favourite supermarket, even the sports tournaments you love. They are all ventures owned not by their founders or a company quoted on a public stock exchange. They are in the hands of a new class of invisible investors who mortgage companies for self-enrichment, rather as homebuyers mortgage themselves to buy homes.But while homeb