Scrutiny of private equity ownership is increasing as the ranks of private-equity owned retailers filing for bankruptcy increases.
In a January paper published with the American Bankruptcy Institute, Chuck Carroll and John Yozzo of FTI Consulting found that two thirds of retail bankruptcy filings in 2016 and 2017 were by private equity-controlled companies.
Two of the largest retail bankruptcies in 2018, Nine West and Claire’s Stores, were also private equity owned companies, whose buyouts have been scrutinized by some stakeholders.
