Zooplus about to be taken over

Popular German online pet supply store Zooplus will soon have a new owner. Private-equity firm Hellman & Friedman and Swedish investor EQT are joining together to take over Zooplus. Zooplus is now valued at 3.4 billion euros.

Fast growth Zooplus

The German online pet supply store Zooplus recorded a high growth in sales since March 2020, at the rise of the pandemic. Last year, the company made a gross profit of 63.3 million euros, which was a growth of over 50 percent. It also recorded a revenue of 1.8 billion euros that year.

Zooplus made a gross profit of 63.3 million euros last year.

According to Zooplus, consumers have higher expectations of online pet supply stores than before. It also said that the market is competitive, which made a takeover interesting for the German online store.

Bidding war

In August, H&F offered 2.8 billion euros for the company. It seemed that Zooplus had found a new owner, but a month later the company announced that it was also interested in making a deal with EQT. Then in September, the online store announced that American investment firm KKR had also joined the conversation.

Hellman & Friedman and EQT form a partnership.

It is striking that H&F and EQT now join forces after being in a bidding war in the last couple of months. The companies are forming a partnership through which they will each own half of the German online retailer of pet products. The acquisition involves an amount of 480 euros per share, which means that Zooplus is now valued at 3.4 billion euros.