Officials with both companies refused to comment on the sale, but sales for the storage design retailer are expected to reach $600 million this year. The Container Store has also been cited as one of the top places to work in the country, with high salaries and family-friendly hours, and the firm receives thousands of applicants for new jobs.
Jeff Sokoloff, managing partner with Leonard Green, a Los Angeles-based investment firm, said in a statement that he doesn't look at the transaction as if the deal is about buying or selling. "We see it as the Container Store bringing in a financial partner that will assist them in continuing to run their business in the principled and trailblazing way they have over the last 29 years."
The new six-member Board of Directors for the new firm will consist of current Container Store CEO Kip Tindell, chief merchandising officer Sharon Tindell and president Melissa Reiff, as well as Sokoloff and Leonard Green partner Timothy Flynn and VP J. Kristofer Galashan.
In February, Container Store officials had indicated that they were interested in sales pitches, to capitalize on the wave of private equity investing in retailers and real estate. The transaction should close by August. The company assets includes its shelving product subsidiary, Elfa International AB.
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