Dive Summary:

• Prior to the recession, private-equity firms spent $36 billion on U.S. brick-and-mortar retailers, but their investments have since taken a beating from companies like Wal-Mart and Amazon.
• The private-equity model involved loading up an acquisition with debt, cutting its costs and then taking it public, but that model hasn't gone so well for private-equity's specialty retail investments.
• The era's biggest spender (and pioneer of the model), Bain Capital LLC, acquired Toys "R" Us Inc., Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp., Guitar Center Inc. and Michaels Stores Inc. in four deals valued at $17 billion, but only Michaels is in good shape and the firm has yet to take any of the companies public.

From the article:

In the years before the recession, private-equity firms put so much faith in the future of U.S. brick-and-mortar retailers that they spent $36 billion on them.

That hasn’t worked out so well, especially for the era’s biggest spender, Bain Capital LLC. The firm started by Mitt Romney inked four deals valued at $17 billion from 2004 to 2007 and still owns all of the purchases. The largest of the bunch was Toys “R” Us Inc., which posted a drop in sales during the holidays, followed by Chief Executive Officer Gerald Storch stepping down. ...