"Talking about Toys R Us specifically, yes a PE firm came in and finished them off" No. Bain, KKR, and Vornado took TRU private in 2005, in the process loading

"Talking about Toys R Us specifically, yes a PE firm came in and finished them off" No. Bain, KKR, and Vornado took TRU private in 2005, in the process loading up TRU with debt. TRU was spending $400 million a year for paying off that debt, money which would have undoubtedly helped had it been invested in online operations or store refreshes, etc. The private equity firms hoped to dump TRU on the market with an IPO, which TRU filed for in 2010 but that never took place, probably because it was crippled with debt by the geniuses who did the LBO.