PetSmart Inc., the largest U.S. pet retailer, has hired restructuring advisers to explore ways to trim its debt pile of more than $8 billion as it continues to face falling profits, Reuters reported. The move comes as PetSmart’s debt trades at a deep discount to its full value amid concerns the brick-and-mortar retailer’s big bet on online commerce has yet to pay off. PetSmart told investors in its bonds on Monday that it would move part of its ownership of e-commerce website Chewy Inc. away from the reach of its creditors. PetSmart is working with investment bank Houlihan Lokey Inc. as it weighs its next steps, the sources said this week. While the company faces no significant debt maturities until 2022, it hopes to take advantage of the decline in the value of its bonds to trim its debt burden, the sources added, without specifying which specific course of action the company will take.
