Mergers & Acquisitions: Windpoint buys Petmate

Date: January 24, 2011

Seller: Petmate

Buyer: Wind Point Partners

Price: undisclosed

Terms: Leveraged Buyout

Wind Point Partners, a private equity firm based in Chicago, acquired Petmate for an undisclosed amount.  Petmate is a leading manufacture of non-consumable pet products, including well known brands such as Dogzilla.  The purchase is Wind Point’s first in the pet product industry and will position Petmate for growth through additional acquisitions and new product development. Wind Point Partners specializes in middle market leverage buy-outs and believes that Petmate has a solid reputation and strong growth potential in the near future.

Read Full Post »

Mergers & Acquisitions: Petmate acquires Bamboo Products

Date: January 24, 2011

Seller: Bamboo Products

Buyer: Petmate

Price: undisclosed

Terms: Add-on

Wind Point Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm, has acquired Doskocil Manufacturing Co. Inc., d/b/a Petmate from Westar Capital. The acquisition will position Petmate for continued growth and that they have already closed on a deal to acquire pet product brand Bamboo.

Joe Messner, Petmate’s new CEO, said the management team will be looking for growth opportunities both internally and externally, whether through acquisitions or licensing.

“We’re clearly in the position where we want to invest more in developing exciting new products,” said Messner, who most recently served as president and CEO of Bushnell Outdoor Products. Petmate has already made it’s first acquisition under Wind Point. The company has acquired the intellectual rights and products of Bamboo, the pet products division of Munchkin Inc. of North Hills, Calif. Messner said Bamboo products, which include Fat Cat brand dog and cat toys, are a greatcomplement to Petmate’s existing product families.

“We are excited about the Bamboo acquisition and look forward to the additional growth opportunities this will bring for Petmate and our retail partners,” he said.

Munchkin’s CEO Steven Dunn said the companywill focus its efforts on increasing international distribution of its infant, todler and mother products.

“We were hoping to find a wonderful company that we trusted to acquire our Bamboo and Fat Cat brands and help them remain key players in the pet industry,” Dunn said. “Petmate fit that bill, and we are encouraged that our brands are such a great fit for their product portfolio.”

Petmate has plans to continue to design, develop and market Bamboo and Fat Cat pet products under existing brand names. The company expects to move Bamboo’s product inventory and associated distribution process to its facility in Arlington by March 31. Until then, Munchkin will continue to manage all of the distribution activities for the product lines on behalf of Petmate.

The Bamboo deal does not include the acquisition of Munchkin’s Paw Seasons pet gates.

Read Full Post »

Quarterly Pet Industry Report – Q4 2010

Pet Deal Activity – Q4 2010
Pet Industry Highlights

The Pet Industry finished 2010 with a flurry of M&A activity involving financial and strategic industry insiders looking to grow
through acquisition. The quarter‐over‐quarter increase in deal activity was driven primarily by strategic acquisitions in which
acquirers bid on pet product companies that would expand existing product lines. Unique product and service offerings (i.e. Xena
Care’s acquisition of EstraPet) continued to dominate strategic activity and multiples paid.
As we saw in Q3 2010, high‐performing companies were able to command price premiums while weak‐performing companies
needed unique deal aspects to consummate financial and capital transactions.

Read the Newsletter Here

Read Full Post »

Mergers & Acquisitions: MidOcean Partners buys Freshpet

Date: January 6, 2011

Seller: Freshpet

Buyer: MidOcean Partners

Price: undisclosed

Terms: Leveraged Buyout

MidOcean Partners acquired a large stake in Freshpet, a dog and cats food manufacturer. The company intends to add more retail distribution and drive its marketing and will be used to enhance Freshpets expansion and growth efforts.

MidOcean is a constant in the consumer product segment, however Freshpet is a first for the firm in the pet food category. Part of the deal is for Richard Thompson, a MidOcean management affiliate, to become Freshpet’s new CEO. He once was in charge of The Meow Mix company which sold to Del Monte Foods in 2006. They will also add the former CEO of Krispy Kreme, Daryl Brewster, who was also an executive at Kraft Foods.

Tyson Foods, another owner of minority stake in Freshpet is helping the company to expand it’s regridgerated products and supply Freshpet with its meat and poultry. Freshpet started its line of meat, vegetables and brown rice products in 2006 and their products are sold throughout North American supermarkets and pet stores.

Read Full Post »