UPDATE 2-CVC, Canada's CPPIB to buy Petco for about $4.6 bln

(Adds details, breakingviews link)
Nov 23 (Reuters) - Petco Holdings Inc agreed to be acquired
by CVC Capital Partners Ltd and the Canada Pension Plan
Investment Board (CPPIB) in a $4.6 billion deal, after merger
talks with market leader PetSmart Inc (O:PETM) stalled last month due to
antitrust concerns.
Petco, the No.2 U.S. pet supplies retailer, had been put up
for sale by a group of investors led by private equity firms TPG
Capital LP and Leonard Green & Partners LP, the company said on
Monday.
TPG Capital and Leonard Green bought Petco for the second
time when it was a public company in 2006 in a $1.7 billion
deal. The two buyout firms had also taken the company private in
2000 for $600 million, and then took it public again in 2002.
TPG and Leonard Green had been hoping to sell the company
for more than $5 billion, including debt, sources told Reuters
in October.
Based in San Diego, California, Petco was founded as a
mail-order company in 1965 and currently operates more than
1,400 stores in the United States, Mexico and Puerto Rico. It
had sales of about $4 billion in the year to Jan 31.
CVC and CPPIB have secured more than $3 billion in debt
financing for the acquisition, Reuters reported on Sunday,
citing people familiar with the matter.
Barclays (L:BARC), Citigroup (N:C), Royal Bank of Canada, Credit Suisse (VX:CSGN),
Nomura and Macquarie have provided committed debt financing to
CVC and CPPIB, the companies said on Monday.
Goldman, Sachs & Co and JP Morgan Securities LLC are
financial advisers to Petco, while Ropes & Gray acted as its
legal counsel.
Barclays, Citigroup and Moelis advised CVC and CPPIB, while
Gibson Dunn provided legal advice.

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BREAKINGVIEWS-Petco needs grooming to please new masters

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