Dollar Tree Most Profitable as Cheapest of LBO Targets: Real M&A

While private-equity firms circle Family Dollar Stores Inc., 99 Cents Only Stores and Big Lots Inc., a leveraged buyout of Dollar Tree Inc. may offer the biggest bang for the buck.

Dollar Tree, which sells everything from toys to pet food and cleaning supplies for $1 or less, holds three times as much cash as Family Dollar, is more than twice as profitable as 99 Cents and generates 55 percent more income per dollar of sales than Big Lots, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.