New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Private equity firm Olympus sells pet-products company for nearly $700M
STAMFORD — Private equity firm Olympus Partners announced this week the sale of petproducts provider Petmate— for a price totaling about $280 million more than what it paid for the company four years ago.
Stamford-based Olympus sold Petmate for nearly $700 million, compared with an acquisition price of $420 million in 2017, according to sources familiar with the transaction. The buyer, private equity firm Platinum Equity, is headquartered in Beverly Hills, Calif., but it also has offices in other locations including the Greenwich Office Park in Greenwich.
“We have sincerely enjoyed partnering with (Petmate CEO) Alice Tillett and the management team to grow the business into a true market-leading platform,” Olympus partner Paul Rubin said in a statement. “The team has done an outstanding job adapting to market dynamics and driving growth with key customers. Petmate is well positioned for continued success.”
Arlington, Texas-based Petmate markets and manufactures products including toys, kennels, crates, dog houses, feeding and watering products, food-storage containers, cat-litter items, bedding, chicken coops, treats and chews.
During Olympus’ ownership, the firm’s adjusted annual earnings increased from about $40 million to more than $60 million, according to Olympus data.
It sales growth reflects an expanding industry. U.S. retail sales of pet products and services reached $107 billion in 2020, up 9 percent from 2019, “due largely to a COVID-19 driven spike in the pet population,” according to a report from market research provider ResearchAndMarkets.com.
“Olympus has been a fantastic partner over the past four years,” Tillett said in a statement. “They have been supportive of both our growth strategy and the internal investment that has been crucial in achieving our success.”
Among other transactions in the past year, Olympus announced in January an investment in Laplace-C, a “retrocession and specialty reinsurance vehicle” managed by reinsurance firm PartnerRe. A month earlier, it acquired ONsite Mammography, a provider of women’s health-imaging services including mammograms and ultrasounds. Last November, it agreed to sell Ennis-Flint, which specializes in pavement markings and traffic-safety services.
Olympus’ portfolio includes 13 companies in industries such as consumer products, health care, financial services, industrial services and manufacturing.
The firm manages funds worth more than $8.5 billion, mainly on behalf of corporate pension funds, endowment funds and state-sponsored retirement programs.
Founded in 1988, Olympus is based in offices at the Metro Center complex, at 1 Station Place, across the street from the downtown Metro-North Railroad station.