SAN DIEGO—Three months after filing for a possible initial public offering, pet products retailer Petco Animal Supplies Inc. has opted to stay in private hands instead. A partnership of CVC Capital Partners and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has agreed to pay $4.6 billion to jointly acquire Petco from a group of investors led by TPG and Leonard Green & Partners, its owners since 2006.

"Petco is clearly a leader in the industry, with strong further growth potential and a talented leadership team," says Chris Stadler, CVC managing partner. "The pet category is a growing and dynamic space within which we believe Petco is ideally positioned to further enhance its leadership position." In its IPO registration this past August, Petco noted that spending on pets is projected to reach $76.6 billion nationwide this year, up from $62.7 billion in 2010 and $47.2 billion in 2005.

The deal for San Diego-based Petco gives CVC and CPPIB control of slightly more than 1,400 Petco stores across the US, Mexico and Puetro Rico, including 130 operating under the Unleashed brand. It comes about eight months after a consortium led by BC Partners and including La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, StepStone and Longview Asset Management took competitor PetSmart Inc. private for $8.7 billion.

Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC are acting as financial advisors to Petco, with Ropes & Gray acting as its legal counsel. Barclays, Citigroup and Moelis acted as lead financial advisors to CVC and CPPIB. Barclays, Citigroup, Royal Bank of Canada, Credit Suisse, Nomura and Macquarie provided committed debt financing to CVC and CPPIB. Gibson Dunn acted as legal counsel to CVC and CPPIB, and CPPIB was also separately advised by Torys LLP.  Subject to customary closing conditions, the deal is expected to close in early 2016.