Private Equity Owned Companies in Times Square

What is a private equity buyout?  A private equity buyout is when firms use investment money from wealthy individuals, pension funds, and other sources to buy public companies and take them private, off the stock market. Buyout firms typically make changes to the company, charge the company fees for managing the operations and then re-sell the company after a period of a few years, often yielding large profits for the private equity firm and its investors.In the 50 square blocks that make up Times Square and its surrounding area (Interactive Map  |  Download PDF), there are 53 stores or offices of 28 different companies that have been, are, or are about to be controlled by private equity.

In Times Square, the buyout industry is, literally, everywhere you turn.

The buyouts of companies with locations in Times Square have together totaled more than $106 billion. Combined, those companies employ more than 530,000 workers across the United States.

Virtually unknown to most Americans, including most of the 26 million people who visit Times Square every year, the private equity buyout industry is growing rapidly in size and influence. This secretive industry is buying up the biggest brand names in America, from Chrysler to Hilton to Dunkin’ Donuts, and is reshaping whole sectors of the economy. In just one week in July, leveraged buyouts worth nearly $85 billion were announced.  In the first quarter of 2007, $269 billion in deals were announced in the United States, more than three times the number for the same period last year.  

This financial juggernaut is generating hefty returns to its investors, and extraordinary riches for a relatively small handful of executives, many of whom live or work in New York City, within a few miles of Times Square. But the millions of people in New York and across the country who work at the companies that are bought often see no improvement in their salaries or benefits in the wake of a deal, and in a number of cases, large numbers of workers have been laid off.

The explosive growth of the buyout industry, coming at a time of historic income inequality in America, is raising increasing concerns about the impact of the takeover boom on American workers, communities, and the nation.

The staggering concentration of private equity-owned companies in Times Square, the deals that have been done, and the pay and benefits of the people who work at these companies provide a microcosm of the impact of this wealthy and growing industry over America’s national economic landscape.