PE-owned Petco aims at nearly $4 bln valuation in U.S. IPO

Jan 6 (Reuters) - Private equity-owned Petco Health and Wellness Company Inc said on Monday it was aiming to raise as much as $816 million in it initial public offering (IPO), giving the U.S. pet retailer a valuation of nearly $4 billion.

Petco plans to price its offering of 48 million shares, which will be listed on Nasdaq under the ticker 'WOOF', between $14 to $17 each, the company said in a regulatory filing. https://bit.ly/3bfiYif

Founded in 1965, Petco operates more than 1,500 stores across the United States, Mexico and Puerto Rico and has more than 100 in-store veterinary hospitals.

The company was acquired by CVC Capital Partners and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in 2016 for about $4.6 billion

Bloomberg reported in September that Petco was weighing an outright sale of its business besides a traditional IPO at a $6 billion valuation. [https://bloom.bg/2XcxRd4 ]

The company had posted a net loss of $24,826 on net sales of about $3.58 million in the 39 weeks ended Oct. 31, its filing showed.

Goldman Sachs & Co LLC and BofA Securities are the lead underwriters of the IPO. (Reporting by Sohini Podder in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)