‘Pets at Home to fetch £800m’
NORTH West retailer Pets at Home is set to go through a third major private equity buyout after four top firms bid more than £800m for it.
The Handforth-based chain – currently owned by Bridgepoint – has been working with City firms Rothschild and JP Morgan Cazenove for the last three months to determine its future.
Floating the business on the stock market was one option, but the level of interest from the PE firms makes another buyout more likely.
According to reports the buy-out firms through to the final round of bids are Apax, KKR, Bain and TPG.
Pets at Home has over 240 stores and believes there is room in the UK for at least 300 and is the market leader in the burgeoning £2.5bn pet sector.
Despite the recession the chain has performed well. Last year Pets at Home’s like-for-like sales rose by 7.5% and profits grew 29%.
A successful sale or float would generate a huge return for Bridgepoint, which bought Pets at Home in 2004 for £230m.
The business was founded in 1991 by entrepreneur Anthony Preston. Backed by 3i he grew it to 150 stores. He retained a significant stake in the business after the Bridgepoint deal.
