$2.7B private equity stake in Party City

OINING THE PARTY: Private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners LP is purchasing a majority stake in party supplies company Party City Holdings Inc. It values its recapitalization deal is valued at $2.69 billion.

WINGMEN: Party City's existing owners, which include the company's management as well as private equity firms Advent International Corp., Berkshire Partners LLC and Weston Presidio, will hold "significant" minority stakes.

INVITE ONLY: Privately held Party City, which was founded in 1947, had filed paperwork for an initial public offering in April 2011. It appears to have second guessed that strategy.