BC Partners Sued Over $8 Billion PetSmart Spin Deal With Apollo

BC Partners LLP engineered an unfair PetSmart LLC spinoff that saddled Chewy Inc.'s investors with potentially huge liabilities over a side deal with Apollo Global Management Inc., according to an unsealed lawsuit.

A shareholder is suing BC Partners and Chewy board members, saying the complex multiparty restructuring favored private equity insiders at the expense of public investors. The deal to separate the two pet products retailers allegedly valued the standalone PetSmart at $8.2 billion, handed Apollo a minority stake in it, and left the resulting tax liability with their former corporate parent, a holding company that merged downstream into ...