BC Partners to acquire PetSmart for $8.7 billion

(Reuters) - Pet supply retailer PetSmart Inc said on Sunday it had agreed to sell itself to a private equity consortium led by BC Partners Ltd for $8.7 billion, in the largest leveraged buyout of the year.

PetSmart said BC Partners, as well as co-investors that include La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and StepStone, have signed an agreement to buy the company for $83 per share. Longview Asset Management, which has a 9 percent stake in PetSmart, will roll a third of that into the deal.

(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Paul Simao)