Pets at Home sold by Bridgepoint to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts for £955m
27 January 2010
Pets at Home has been sold to private equity house Kohlberg Kravis Roberts ("KKR") for £955m, including the debt.
The pets
specialist, which has flourished in the recession, had been mulling a sale or a
possible stock market flotation for some months.
Matt Davies will
stay on as chief executive at the pets specialist.
Previous owners
Bridgepoint bought Pets at Home for about £230m in 2004.
Davies said: “We
are thrilled to embark on this new chapter in our history with the strong
support of KKR.
“KKR’s
investment represents a resounding endorsement of our success to date and a
validation of our colleagues’ commitment and enthusiasm towards pets and pet
owners across the UK. KKR has a track-record of investing in world-class
retailers around the world, and it’s exciting for us to join the ranks of KKR retail
investments like Alliance Boots, Toys“R”Us, Dollar General and Maxeda. It
has been a pleasure to work with Bridgepoint over the last six years and we are
proud of all we have accomplished with their support.”
KKR executive
John Pfeffer said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to back the
outstanding Pets at Home management team led by Matt Davies and to invest in
this exceptional company.
“Pets at Home
leads the UK pet market with 4,200 passionate and expert colleagues and a
well-differentiated retail proposition. We are enthusiastic about the
significant further potential for Pets at Home to grow, develop and continue to
deliver its unmatched breadth of products, store environment, competitive
pricing and customer service.”
Pets at Home
recently revealed a record Christmas, with like-for-likes up 6.7% in the 6
weeks to January 7 and 9.8% like-for-like growth for the 41 weeks to January 7.
