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Woolworths buys 55% stake in pet retailer
Petspiration Group, an Australian and New Zealand specialty pet food, accessories and services retailer, has sold 55 per cent of its business to Woolworths.
Lauren Croft
Firm: Norton Rose Fulbright (Petspiration Group)
Value: Undisclosed
Area: M&A
Key players: The NRF team included partners Marshall Bromwich, Ka-Chi Cheung, Nick McHugh, Kate Muller, Martin Osborne and Georgina Hey; as well as Laura Martin, Michelle Martin, Dietrich Marquardt, Linda Lau, Roxanne Truter, Amy Parry, Jonathan McMillan, Tim Chia, Tom Grogan and Terry Stavrianos.
Deal significance: Petspiration Group is an omnichannel specialty pet retailer, engaged in the pet retail, grooming, veterinary services, pet daycare, wholesale and animal training industry. Petspiration Group is the owner and operator of the leading retail brand PETstock and uses a network of 276 stores across Australia and New Zealand.
Petspiration Group founders Shane and David Young, together with management and other existing shareholders, will retain the remaining 45 per cent equity in a long-term partnership arrangement. Shane and David Young will also continue as chief executive and managing director respectively, running Petspiration as a stand-alone business within Woolworths Group under a separate board and governance structure.
Commenting on the deal, NRF corporate M&A partner Marshall Bromwich said that “this deal is indicative of the continued interest we are seeing major companies take in expanding and developing their specialty retail offerings.”
“We are pleased to have worked with the Petspiration Group team for over 20 years now. It is a business founded and still headquartered in Ballarat, Victoria and this transaction helps to lay a foundation for its next stage of growth,” he said.
Lauren Croft
Lauren is a journalist at Lawyers Weekly and graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from Macleay College. Prior to joining Lawyers Weekly, she worked as a trade journalist for media and travel industry publications and Travel Weekly. Originally born in England, Lauren enjoys trying new bars and restaurants, attending music festivals and travelling. She is also a keen snowboarder and pre-pandemic, spent a season living in a French ski resort.
