LOS ANGELES — Platinum Equity announced the acquisition of Petmate, a maker of pet products sold through a wide range of retail partners.
Platinum bought the company from Stamford, CT-based Olympus Partners. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Headquartered in Arlington, TX, Petmate was founded in 1959 as Doskocil Manufacturing with a focus on providing safe pet transportation, resulting in the development of the industry’s first dog kennel. Today the company manufactures, sources and markets products including plastic and wire pet kennels, dog houses, toys, food storage, bedding, treats, chews and more.
“Petmate has been a leading innovator in pet products for more than 60 years and has an outstanding portfolio of respected brands,” said Platinum Equity Managing Director Adam Cooper. “The U.S. pet market has grown steadily for the past 20 years and the secular trends driving it are expected to continue. The company’s vertically integrated manufacturing capabilities and domestic footprint help ensure an efficient and reliable supply chain, which is more important than ever in today’s environment.”
Petmate’s products are sold through big box pet retailers, mass merchandisers, major e-commerce retailers, farm and ag stores, and specialty pet stores. The company’s current brand portfolio includes Chuckit!, Pet Qwerks, Healthy Chews, Gamma2, JW and La-Z-Boy.
Petmate CEO Alice Tillett will continue to lead the company following the change in ownership.
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“We are so excited to join Platinum’s portfolio of industry leading companies,” said Tillett. The pet industry in general and Petmate specifically are extremely well positioned for success. With the support of Platinum Equity and a strong core team at Petmate, we are confident and energized to enter our next phase of growth.”
In addition to opportunities for organic growth, Platinum expects to use its M&A resources to help the company expand.
“Petmate is a strong platform of scale operating in a highly fragmented industry,” added Cooper. “With our financial, operational and M&A resources, we will support the company in its pursuit of further growth through additional acquisitions. There are significant near-term opportunities to broaden Petmate’s capabilities, diversify its product portfolio and blue-chip customer base, and accelerate its expansion in the fast growing e-commerce channel.”
Paul Rubin, partner at Olympus, said: “We have sincerely enjoyed partnering with Alice Tillett and the management team to grow the business into a true market-leading platform. The team has done an outstanding job adapting to market dynamics and driving growth with key customers. Petmate is well positioned for continued success.”
