Petco-PetSmart Merger On the Table

There is reportedly exploration of a Petco-PetSmart merger by the two retailers.

San Diego-based Petco filed for an IPO in August that could value the company at between $5 billion and $6 billion. At the same time, the retailer’s private-equity owners, TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners, are exploring an outright sale of the company, and have approached the owner of PetSmart, private-equity firm BC Partners.

A Petco-PetSmart merger would give the combined companies a 30 percent market share of the country’s pet supplies business. The two retailers considered merging last year, but there were fears that the measure would not pass anti-trust regulations.