Bain Capital Buys Bob’s Discount Furniture

Bain Capital (Boston) has had agreed to buy a majority stake in Bob’s Discount Furniture (Manchester, Conn.), a chain of nearly 50 furniture stores, for a reported $350 million.

The private equity firm KarpReilly/Apax (Greenwich, Conn.), which has been a majority owner in Bob’s for the last nine years, will no longer be invested in the company. But the company’s current management team will continue to own a “significant stake” in the business.

Bob’s is one of the largest furniture retailers in the U.S., with 47 stores throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region and plans to open a store in Philadelphia in February. Bain has said it wants the number of stores to grow.

Kaufman, who got his start in furniture by selling water beds, opened his first Bob’s Discount Furniture store in Newington, Conn., in 1991. He will remain involved as president emeritus and the face of the brand’s television campaign. Ted English will continue as ceo.