Dive Brief:

• The country’s largest pet retailer, PetSmart, is going private. Investors Monday approved a $8.7 billion bid by London-based private equity firm BC Partners, which was announced in December.

• That last-minute bid surpassed the previously reported front-runner Apollo Global Management LLC and its reported bid at around $8 billion.

• An auction launched by J.P. Morgan set off something of a bidding war. The deal means a healthy $83 per share payment by BC Partners, a 6.86% premium over the retailer’s most recent closing price.

Dive Insight:

Activist investment firm Jana Partners had been pushing for a sale after it disclosed its 9.9% stake in PetSmart last summer; the retailer has seen flat sales in an increasingly competitive pet supplies market. Massachusetts semiconductor company Skyworks Solutions will replace PetSmart on the S&P 500 index.