OK, I do not know all the particulars. I just know that a private entity used the government to further it's own goals.
Yes, however, the gov't may not view the private entity as all that private since it is a legal person incorporated or doing business under the laws of the state. Such legal persons may own property, but oddly, they may also be owned. It may be that the gov't used the legal person to further its own goals. Fact is, we aren't taught the full meanings of 'public' and 'private' in the public schools. Not even approximately close.