PetSmart (PETM), the world’s largest retailer for pet supplies, announced Tuesday that its been looking into the potential sale of the company in order to “maximize value for shareholders,” according to a release.
But is it a wise decision?
CEO David Lenhardt appears to believe so. “This afternoon’s announcement about exploring alternatives will not distract the management team from continuing to pursue a broad range of performance improvement initiatives already underway,” he said in a statement.
The pet goods retailer is partnering with JP Morgan (JPM) to help during the process, according to the release.
The news of a potential sale comes on the same day PetSmart announced the acquisition of Pet360, a website pet owners can use to buy products, get advice and support. The acquisition could help the company fix struggling online sales and compete with ecommerce retailers like Amazon.com.
“This transaction is a smart and efficient way to make PetSmart a leader in the online retail space. As discussed previously, although online sales are still a relatively small part of the pet products industry, we expect them to become a more relevant source of revenue in the future,” said Lenhardt in a statement.
The company also announced its second quarter earnings a day earlier than expected. The company reported earnings of $0.98 per share, which beat analysts’ estimates of $0.94. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter as well, beating estimates of $1.73 billion.
PetSmart also reported that its net sales for the quarter were up 1.4% to $1.7 billion.
At the end of July, activist investor Jana Partners, which owns 9.9% of the company, called for PetSmart to consider a sale.
