PetSmart, the pet supply and associated goods chain with a store in the Leaside Centre at Laird Drive and Eglinton Ave. E., has been sold by its U.S. owners to a Canadian consortium that includes B.C. Investors and the Quebec based Caisse de depot. The price was $8.3-billion (U.S.) in what is being called the biggest leveraged deal for an American company this year. The group will pay $83 a share, according to a statement Sunday. The business background involves continuing erosion of PetSmart’s business by online mammoth Amazon and others. The company continues to be profitable but major shareholders in the U.S. wanted out at the highest price possible. Globe and Mail and others.
