LOS ANGELES – Duff & Phelps, LLC, rendered a fairness opinion to the board of directors of PETsMART.com, Inc. in a merger with PETsMART, Inc. For $9.5 million, PETsMART acquired the remaining 16.3 percent interest in PETsMART.com.

The fairness opinion was prepared under the direction of Gregory P. Range, a managing director in Duff & Phelps' Los Angeles office.

Range noted that Duff & Phelps has assisted boards of directors and other corporate fiduciaries make informed decisions for more than seven decades. The firm renders fairness opinions for clients with diverse needs in industries ranging from healthcare to high-tech, and from manufacturing to money management.

PETsMART, Inc. is the largest specialty retailer of services and solutions for the lifetime needs of pets. The company operates more than 560 pet stores in the United States and Canada, and also run a large pet supply catalog business.

PETsMART.com is the Internet's leading provider of pet products and information.

Under the integration plan, the PETsMART.com operations in Pasadena, Calif., and the marketing, catalog development, human resource and finance operations of PETsMART Direct, will be consolidated at corporate headquarters in Phoenix, Ariz. The PETsMART Direct facility in Brockport, N.Y., will continue to handle fulfillment for the corporation's pet and equine catalogs, e-commerce sites and in-store State Line Tack departments, and will manage customer service for all direct marketing operations.