Private equity firm wants to take over Zooplus

The online pet supplies retailer will probably recommend that its shareholders accept the takeover offer from Hellman & Friedman. Zooplus should then soon disappear from the stock exchange.

The US investment firm Hellman & Friedman wants to take over the German online retailer Zooplus. This was announced by the listed pet supplies expert. The company's shareholders are to receive 390 euros per share, which is significantly higher than the share price in recent months. Hellman & Friedman is thus valuing the online retailer at just under three billion euros.

Zooplus intends to recommend that its shareholders accept the offer. According to a Zooplus ad hoc, Hellman & Friedman has already secured 17 percent of the shares through agreements with the management team and long-standing investors. If the takeover bid is successful, Zooplus will be delisted from the stock exchange.

"With Hellman & Friedman as a partner, we will gain additional sector expertise, active support, financial flexibility and a long-term perspective to better and more effectively utilize this market opportunity for us," explained Zooplus CEO Cornelius Patt.

Zooplus has been in existence since 1999 and is the largest online platform for pet supplies in Europe in terms of sales. In 2020, it achieved sales of around 1.8 billion euros. Both the new investor and CEO Patt expressed their conviction that the pet market in general and its online share in particular will grow strongly in the coming years.