Guitar Center

restructured

Retail — Bain Capital (former) / Ares Management

Deal Terms

Entry Year2007

Entry EV$1.9B

Entry Multiple9x

Leverage7x

Debt Amount$1.78B

Risk Metrics

LTV (est.)94%

Debt / EV0.94x

Notes

Bain Capital $1.9B LBO (2007) loaded $1.78B in immediate debt. Ares took control via 2014 debt-for-equity swap. Filed Chapter 11 Nov 2020 with $1.3B debt. Eliminated $800M in debt. PE ownership cycle: Bain buys, loads debt, Ares inherits the wreckage, bankruptcy cleans up.

Sponsor

Ares Management$622.5B AUM