Speculation is mounting that TPG Capital, L.P. is testing buyer interest for the $3.5 billion-plus Petbarn owner Greencross Limited and some are pointing to Wesfarmers Limited (ASX:WES) as the potential suitor. Working on a potential sale of the business, which owns veterinary clinics and a trans-Tasman pet care retail business, is investment bank Jefferies LLC, and there is a view that the $60 billion listed Perth-based Wesfarmers is showing some interest. The question is whether TPG would sell the company as a whole or just the interest that it retained after offloading 45% to AustralianSuper and The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan.

That deal last year valued the business at $3.5 billion, and since then, Greencross has purchased Habitat Pet Supplies, a Melbourne-based pet store chain with five stores that it plans to merge with its Petbarn and Animates retail business. The logic is all there for Wesfarmers to buy Greencross. The question is whether it would buy off TPG - expected to have overly enthusiastic expectations on price.

Yet TPG has already pocketed $1.57 billion through its sell down so perhaps the price tag won't be that large after all. Wesfarmers, which did not comment on whether it was weighing an acquisition, would be familiar with the business given it looked at Greencross when Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley ran a sale process in 2021.