Private-equity firm Advent International on Sunday said it agreed to buy a majority interest in the bedding company that owns the Simmons mattress brand and licenses the Serta brand, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. The price of the transaction wasn't disclosed, but on Friday Advent was close to a deal for National Bedding's owners Ares Management, and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan put the mattress company up for sale earlier this year in an auction run by Barclays. Under the plan announced Sunday, Ares Management and the teachers pension fund will retain a significant equity stake. The transaction is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2012, subject to various closing conditions. Private-equity firms Bain Capital and Berkshire Partners had also been bidding as part of the auction.
