June 27 (Bloomberg) -- Guitar Center Inc., the largest U.S. retailer of musical instruments, agreed to be bought by Bain Capital Partners LLC for $1.9 billion.

Bain will pay $63 a share in cash, Guitar Center said today in a statement, 26 percent more than the stock's closing price yesterday. The buyout firm will also assume Guitar Center's debt, bringing the total transaction value to $2.1 billion.

Guitar Center sells Fender guitars, Pearl drums and Yamaha keyboards at more than 210 U.S. stores and online. Bain was part of a group that agreed last week to buy Home Depot Inc.'s contractor-supply unit for $10.3 billion, and has also invested in retailers Toys ``R'' Us Inc. and Michaels Stores Inc.

``They are the market leader in the musical instruments business,'' said Joan Storms, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles who rates the shares ``hold.'' ``They put mom-and-pops out of business when they come into town.''

Guitar Center reported revenue gains of at least 12 percent every quarter since 1998. Sales climbed 14 percent to $2.03 billion last year, a sixfold increase since the company went public in 1997.

The shares jumped $9.92, or 20 percent, to $59.98 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. The stock has almost quadrupled since its initial share sale at $15.

Guitar Center began in 1959 when former car salesman Wayne Mitchell purchased a small appliance and organ store in Hollywood, California. In 1964, Mitchell converted a movie theater next door and opened the first Guitar Center on Sunset Boulevard.

(From Bloomberg.com)