Takeovers, deals and partnerships

The Covid pandemic gave the pet supplies industry an unexpected boost. Quite a few industry players were blinded by this development and dreamt of an imminent age of premiumisation, in which consumers would be guided in their purchasing decisions primarily by quality aspects and less strongly by price. As we now know, this was a mistake. Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, which brought with it record-breaking inflation, pet owners are once again paying more attention to price. This is unlikely to change in the coming months.

Some pet companies have come under margin pressure due to the deterioration in general conditions. And that’s not all: as consumers have become even more demanding in the post-Covid era, it has become a necessity for industry and retail to invest in digitalisation, sustainability and marketing in order to remain competitive in the long term. Some companies are overwhelmed by this, which is why there have been more takeovers in recent months for these and other reasons. The consolidation of the pet product industry is entering the next stage.

There are often geostrategic reasons for a takeover. Some companies see the acquisition of another firm as a good opportunity to position themselves more strongly in a country in which they have not yet been represented at all or only weakly. The British specialist retail chain Pets Corner acquired a stake in the Belgian chain Cats & Dogs last year, enabling it to expand more strongly in the Benelux countries. Fressnapf’s takeover of the Dutch specialist retail group Jumper was also driven by geostrategic reasons. Generating further growth is the primary intention behind the numerous acquisitions made by Belgian pet food manufacturer United Petfood. The news in January that the company now also wants to buy its Danish competitor Vital Petfood caused a particularly big stir. If approved by the Danish antitrust authorities, the takeover would be an important step for United Petfood in strengthening its position in Scandinavia. Even in the trade fair industry, takeovers are a good way to grow. The American Pet Products Association (APPA), to name one example, recently acquired The Pet Summit, an educational conference and online platform designed to bring together pet industry stakeholders. The acquisition comes at a time when APPA is looking to expand its offerings to its members and diversify the…