NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Nov. 10, 2014--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its rating and outlook on PetSmart Inc. (BB+/Stable/--) are not affected by published reports that private equity firms have been asked to submit final-round bids for the company. If PetSmart is acquired by a private equity firm, the rating implications would most likely be negative because we believe the transaction would be funded largely with debt. This will lead to signification deterioration in credit metrics, resulting in our reassessment of its financial risk profile and financial policies. Upon announcement of any deal, we would likely place our ratings on PetSmart on CreditWatch with negative implications on the potential for a leveraged balance sheet. Rating downside
