BJ's Wholesale Club To Be Sold For $2.8B

BJ’s Wholesale Club has agreed to be bought by two private equity companies for $2.8 billion.

The Westborough company is the nation’s third-largest membership discount chain behind Sam’s Club and Costco.

BJ's two buyers — Leonard Green & Partners and CVC Capital Partners — specialize in retail. The new ownership could be a good strategy for expanding beyond the company's current 190 stores in 15 states, says Patty Edwards, a discount retail analyst at Trutina Financial.

"You have the opportunity, for someone who really knows another market, to leverage the information that they have from other deals into a new one," Edwards said.

Private ownership makes it easier to invest in expansion than it would have been if BJ’s were to stay a publicly traded company.

Consumers at existing BJ’s stores probably won’t notice any difference.

BJ's said its board unanimously approved the buyout and is recommending that shareholders vote for it.

Leonard Green & Partners and CVC Capital Partners are paying cash for BJ's stock, at almost 7 percent more than what it sold for at the close of Tuesday’s trading.