CVC and CPPIB to buy Petco for about $4.6 billion

(Reuters) - Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners Ltd and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board said on Monday they would buy U.S. pet supplies retailer Petco Holdings Inc for about $4.6 billion.

The company had solicited offers from private equity firms after its discussions to be bought by rival PetSmart Inc fell through over antitrust concerns, sources familiar with the matter had said.

The two outbid other suitors for the company, which had been put up for sale by a group of investors led by private equity firms TPG Capital LP and Leonard Green & Partners LP.

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, Citigroup, Royal Bank of Canada, Credit Suisse, 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.

San Diego-based Petco, which was founded in 1965 as a mail-order company, operates over 1,400 stores in the United States, Mexico and Puerto Rico.

(Reporting by Shubhankar Chakravorty in Bengaluru; Editing by Ted Kerr)