Luc Vandevelde, who was once the chairman of Marks & Spencer decided to get out of the clothing business and into the pet business by placing a 200M bid on the 155-strong Pets at Home chain. He was not the only one wanting to buy the giant pet store chain, not by a long shot in fact. Other heavy-hitting bidders included HG Capital, JP Morgan, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., (KKR) and Bridgepoint. It was said that there was a huge interest in the pet chain store with a total of 36 bidders throwing their hats into the ring, including U.S. giant Petco who wished to grab up the UK-based giant.
Pets at Home retails in pet food, accessories and other pet related products. They also sell many types of small animals such as hamsters and reptiles, as well as fish. The company was established in the early 1990s and now operates over 250 stores and employs over 4,200 associates. Pets at Home rakes in millions of pounds of profit each year and is the leading UK supplier of pet related items.
Once the bidding war was over and the dust settled, it was KKR who signed the agreement to acquire Pets at Home in January 2010. KKR was founded in 1976 and today is a leading global alternate asset manager with over 600 people working for the firm worldwide. KKR manages assets through a variety of investment funds covering many asset classes.
KKR member John Pfeffer said that his company is very happy to have the chance to back and to invest in the outstanding company that is so widely known all across the UK. KKR plans to continue to allow Pets at Home to grow and to deliver its wide range of high quality products and stellar customer service it is known for.
