Leon Black’s Apollo nearing deal to buy PetSmart for about $8 billion: Bloomberg

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Leon Black’s Apollo Global Management is nearing a buyout of PetSmart Inc for about $8 billion in what would be the largest leveraged deal for a U.S. company this year, Bloomberg reported on Saturday, citing unnamed sources.

“New York-based Apollo is in late-stage talks to buy PetSmart for about $8 billion following an auction process that has been under way for weeks, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are confidential, ” Bloomberg said.

It said the pet-supplies retailer has a market value of $7.72 billion. A private-equity deal with Apollo would top Blackstone Group LP’s $5.4 billion purchase of industrial-products maker Gates Global LLC in July, Bloomberg said.

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