Bain's track record


Companies bought out by Bain Capital have faced layoffs, cutbacks, closures, and bankruptcy while Bain came out ahead. We're worried that Bain Capital won't do the right things for Bright Horizons children, parents, and staff unless we hold them accountable.

According to the Los Angeles Times, "[Bain Capital] gained huge profits from at least half a dozen companies that soon crashed into bankruptcy." Here are just a few examples:

  • KB Toys and Dade Behring: "One transaction, involving the medical diagnostics company Dade Behring, took place in 1999… and the other, involving KB Toys, occurred about two years later. Bain and its co-investors extracted special payments of over $100 million from each company, enabling Bain to make a healthy profit even before re-selling the businesses - a practice known as "getting back your bait." Lenders say Bain is one of the firms that has taken the most in such payments, which companies usually make by taking on additional debt.  Both Dade Behring and KB Toys soon suffered dips in their business. Unable to meet the burden of their debts, each filed for bankruptcy and laid off thousands of workers."  (New York Times)

  • Ampad: "Bain Capital had bought a controlling interest in a paper products company called Ampad for $5 million in 1992. Two years later, after Ampad bought a factory in Marion, Ind., the new management team dismissed about 200 workers, slashed salaries and benefits, and hired strike breakers after the union called a walkout…. Ampad prospered briefly after Bain Capital took it public in 1996. But saddled with increasing debt, Ampad began laying off workers, closing plants and losing money within a year. It filed for bankruptcy protection in 2000. By then, Bain Capital had reaped $102 million in advisory fees, sales of stock and other payments, corporate documents show."  (Los Angeles Times)

  • DDi Corp: "In 1997 [Bain Capital] purchased a stake in DDi Corp., an Anaheim, Calif.-based maker of printed electronic circuit boards. Three years later, Bain Capital netted a $36 million profit after it took the company public…. But DDi's stock soon collapsed, and the company filed for bankruptcy in August 2003, laying off more than 2,100 workers. Bain Capital and DDi executives jointly settled a federal class action lawsuit in March [2007], agreeing to pay $4.4 million to shareholders who argued that DDi was poorly managed and "hemorrhaging cash" before the stock offering, court records show."  (Los Angeles Times)