Music & Entertainment

Guitar Center

Bain's $2.1B LBO loaded $1.75B in debt. Filed Chapter 11 in 2020 but survived after eliminating $800M in debt.

FOUNDED
1959
ACQUIRED
Bain Capital, 2007, $2.1 billion
IMPACTS
1 documented

Editorial Record

maintained by DeathbyPE. Every claim links to a public source.

Timeline

1959

Guitar Center founded

2007

Acquired by Bain Capital for $2.1 billion

2007

Guitar Center loaded with $1.75B in debt from Bain Capital LBO

HighDebt Loading

Bain's 2007 LBO loaded Guitar Center with $1.75B in debt. Filed Chapter 11 in 2020, survived by eliminating $800M in debt. One of the few PE-loaded companies to narrowly escape liquidation.

Before / After

Debt load

reported 2007

before $0 debt

after $1.75B debt

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Tracked Locations

CA · 1

3213 Main St

San Diego, CA 92101 · 555-482-3883

FL · 1

5540 Main St

Orlando, FL 32801 · 555-344-5545

IL · 2

6852 Main St

Chicago, IL 60601 · 555-658-6283

4409 Main St

Chicago, IL 60601 · 555-152-8958

MN · 1

787 Main St

Minneapolis, MN 55401 · 555-806-6138

NC · 1

6198 Main St

Raleigh, NC 27601 · 555-534-4500

OR · 1

414 Main St

Portland, OR 97201 · 555-702-5162

PA · 2

5635 Main St

Philadelphia, PA 19019 · 555-919-9503

6898 Main St

Pittsburgh, PA 15201 · 555-619-9116