The $29 is far above Petco's closing price yesterday of $19.45on the Nasdaq. However, the company's 52-week high is $29.88. Thetransaction would make Petco, which operates about 800 storesacross the country, a private company.

Leonard Green and Texas Pacific have both been avid retailbuyers as of late. At the beginning of the year Leonard Greenbought the 400-store Sports Authority for about $1.3 billion. Italso made a bid for the Hollywood Video chain before competitorMovie Gallery stepped in an acquired the company last year. TexasPacific was part of the joint venture that closed on the NeimanMarcus department-store chain last year for about $5 billion.

Petco posted net earnings of $11 million during its firstquarter, down from $17.2 million during the same year-ago period.Same-store sales rose 2.2% for the quarter, which ended April 29,and net sales were $521 million, up 8.6%.