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Boston buyout millions back Philly's Five Below

Advent International joins LLR Partners in owning a chunk of Five Below

Advent International, a big Boston business buyout firm that says it's invested $26 billion for the state of Pennsylvania and other pension and investor clients, says it's bought a chunk of Five Below, the tweeny Philadelphia-based dollar-store chain run by Zany Brainy veterans Tom Vellios and David Schlessinger. Advent plans to operate 142 stores by year-end, up from around 100 last year. Advent joins Ira Lubert-backed LLR Partners of Philadelphia as a buyout investor in Five Below.

Advent previously invested in the former Dollar Express (now owned by DollarTree) and Poundland (now owned by Warburg Pincus), among other dollar stores. Advent and Five Below won't say how much Advent invested or whether it paid a higher price than LLR and previous investors.