This is exactly it. The skilled politicians are the reason why the company failed in the first place. They then take over the acquiring company from within like a virus and destroy that next. Rule of thumb: If a company is failing and you purchase it, fire everybody. Either the culture or the people are poison, and they will infect you.
We just had a close call with this where I work. Bought a company, because they were failing and being crushed under their own weight. Somehow they convinced the management at my company that they knew the path forward and we've been in complete gridlock trying to get anything done for a couple years, eventually they hired outside management for the company we bought, set clear KPIs which they failed to deliver on (in some cases failing to even attempt to deliver on) and the got fired.
But god damn, when you buy a company that can no longer afford to support its own weight, don't let those fuckers convince you that they somehow know how to run your business too when they can't run theirs.
Yes absolutely - keep the skilled folks below the VP level and perhaps some of the Directors. Generally garbage flows from the top down, and they've been putting up with it this entire time.
