A decade later, Guitar Center merged with a company controlled by Bain Capital, the private equity giant, and became privately held again. In 2014, an investment firm called Ares Capital Management took over a majority stake. Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s recently improved their outlooks on Guitar Center after a refinancing. But it still carries junk ratings, and Moody’s described it as “very highly leveraged.”The notion that any invalid warranties were being sold raises questions about the internal practices of both Guitar Center and Asurion. Guitar Center’s staff members were pushed to sell Asurion warranties through management pressure and a variety of contests, according to interviews and internal emails that I reviewed.

Source: New York Times June 07, 2018 18:33 UTC