Petco throws Wall Street a bone, tempts investors with public offering.(Petco Animal Supplies went private)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)

SAN DIEGO -- Barely 15 months after Petco Animal Supplies went private in a leveraged buyout, the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Dec. 21 to return to the Nasdaq Market listing. The nation's second-largest pet products retailer, which originally went public in 1994, said it plans to sell up to $287.5 million in common shares that it would use to buy back preferred stock.

Petco had kept open the option of reverting to a publicly traded entity since its buyout in October 2000, led by Los Angeles-based equity firm Leonard Green & Partners, according to a Petco spokesman. No underwriter, offering date or price has yet been set, but the time …