I don't think there was any implication that the big buyouts before a crash are unusual - calling them "a feature of modern finance" seemed to be implying that they're inevitable.
Acquisitions become crazier and crazier as the market gets hotter and hotter, with ever increasing purchase prices - someone inevitably gets left holding the bag when the market comes crashing back down to earth, and it's often the greedier players who take bigger risks.
The blockbuster acquisitions that happen in the middle of the bull market also often seem insane in the moment, but if the market continues on the up after the fact then they're remembered as sound business decisions rather than as a symptom of mania.
Acquisitions become crazier and crazier as the market gets hotter and hotter, with ever increasing purchase prices - someone inevitably gets left holding the bag when the market comes crashing back down to earth, and it's often the greedier players who take bigger risks.
The blockbuster acquisitions that happen in the middle of the bull market also often seem insane in the moment, but if the market continues on the up after the fact then they're remembered as sound business decisions rather than as a symptom of mania.