Private equity firm Thomas H Lee buys majority stake in Party City
05 Jun 2012
Private equity firm Thomas H Lee Partners is buying a majority stake in Party City, in a deal that values North America's largest retailer of party goods at $2.7 billion.
Post closing, Party City's current owners, private equity firms Advent International, Berkshire Partners and Weston Presidio, as well as the company's management will hold "significant minority stakes" in the company.
Rockaway, New Jersey-based Party City is America's largest specialty party goods chain and the country's largest Halloween specialty retailer. Party City operates more than 600 company-owned outlets throughout the US and Puerto Rico.
Party City opened its first store in East Hanover, New Jersey in 1985 and through acquisitions, partnerships and expansion, the company's sales crossed the $1 billon dollar mark in 2004.
In 2005, Amscan Holdings, the largest designer, manufacturer and distributor of party goods in America, acquired Party City. Amscan is owned by Advent International, Berkshire Partners and Weston Presidio.
Amscan then went on to acquire the party retailers Party America in 2006 and Factory Card & Party Outlet in 2007. Both retail chains began to operate under the Party City network.
Reuters last week reported that Boston-based Thomas H Lee Partners was close to finalising a deal to buy Party City for between $2.6 billion - $2.8 billion, after beating out two other rivals, BC Partners and a consortium of Leonard Green & Partners and TPG Capital Management.
"Party City leads the $10 billion retail party goods industry in terms of product selection and retail network," said Thomas H Lee's managing director Todd Abbrecht.
''We look forward to working closely with the team at Party City to maximise its scale and vertically integrated business model to continue to grow its business,'' he added.
