Sard Verbinnen & Co and Teneo Strategy are feeding communications for the $8.7B takeover of retailer PetSmart by a private equity consortium led by BC Partners.
The year's largest leveraged US private equity deal includes $8.3B in cash and another $400M in debt assumption. It was announced on Sunday, Dec. 14.
Sard Chicago managing director Bryan Locke is guiding PR on the PetSmart side of the deal. April Lenhard heads IR for the Phoenix-based, publicly traded company, while Michelle Friedman is director of corporate comms.
Teneo's James Olecki works the BC Partners end. Olecki is a Weber Shandwick and GMAC (now Ally Financial) alum.
London-based Greenbrook Communications is aiding BC across the pond.
The BC-led group beat out other bidders for the company with an $83-per-share offer.
Hedge fund Jana Partners ratcheted up pressure on PetSmart's board in July, collecting up to a 10% stake and sparking its search for a buyer.
PetSmart, which has 1,387 pet stores in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico, saw third quarter 2014 revenues rise 2.6% to $1.7B with net income of $92.2M.
Golin handles consumer PR.
PetSmart president and CEO David K. Lenhardt said the BC-led consortium will be an "excellent partner for PetSmart as we continue to implement our strategic plan to capitalize on our opportunities for growth and meet the needs of pet parents." He said the deal is "testament to the strength of the PetSmart brand and franchise and reflects the dedication and commitment of our 54,000 associates."
Edelman handles Viking Holdings, the river and ocean luxury cruise line that plans to raise $1B via an IPO priced in the $21 to $25 per share range.
Teneo is handling the initial public offering of CVC Capital Partners, one of Europe’s largest private equity firms with nearly $200B in assets under management.
Brunswick Group represents Endeavor Group Holdings as it agrees to go private via its acquisition by Silver Lake technology investment firm, which is handled by Edelman Smithfield.
Tod Donhauser, a nine-year veteran of Edelman, has joined H/Advisors Abernathy as managing director and head of its San Francisco office.
Intelligent Group Ltd, a Hong Kong-based financial PR firm, has priced its initial public offering of 1.9M shares at $4, which is the low end of the $4 to $5 range.
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