UNITED PETFOOD ANNOUNCES PLANNED ACQUISITION OF VITAL PETFOOD GROUP
Ghent, 16 January 2024 – Dog and cat food manufacturer United Petfood announces that a share purchase agreement has been signed for the acquisition of Vital Petfood Group in Ølgod, Denmark.
The takeover of the first plant in the Nordics is part of the planned growth strategy of United Petfood.
Wild Bird business in not part of the planned acquisition and will continue as VPG Wild Bird A/S under Nordic Pet Care Group.
Vital Petfood Group is a pet food business with many years of experience in the production of dry & semi-moist food for cats and dogs.
The intended acquisition still needs to be approved by the Danish Competition Authorities.
"Thanks to the acquisition of Vital Petfood Group, our network of production sites will be able to offer flexibility and brings our production more and more closer to our customers also in the Nordics”, according to the management of United Petfood.
“There has been a lot of consolidation within the pet food production industry during the recent years. We wanted to find a new owner to continue developing our petfood production in the long run. This divestment enables us to focus and further strengthen our branded businesses within Nordic Pet Care Group.
Being one of the leading European producers of pet food, United Petfood was an obvious choice of partner and new owner of VPG. We are confident that VPG will benefit from United Petfood’s European customer footprint as well extensive experience with operating multiple pet food production sites. Furthermore, we expect United Petfood to be able to utilize VPG’s strong position in the Nordics, and the Danish market, in particular.
We look forward to continue and expand the collaboration with United Petfood and keep on producing Best Friend products at the Ølgod factory for the years to come”, according to Nordic Pet Care Group CEO Mika Holappa.
About United Petfood
United Petfood is a leading international producer of dry and wet pet food, biscuits and snacks for cats and dogs, both for private label customers and brand owners. For more than 25 years, the Belgian family business has been providing its customers with top-notch service. In addition to plants in Belgium, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Romania and Turkey, the group also boasts five production facilities in France, three in Poland, three in the UK and six in the Netherlands. The company is active in over 95 countries worldwide and currently realizes an annual turnover in excess of €1.2 billion. For more information, visit www.unitedpetfood.eu.
Contact details:
Dominiek Dumoulin: d.dumoulin@unitedpetfood.eu
Dries Eeckhout: dries@unitedpetfood.be
About Nordic Pet Care Group
Nordic Pet Care Group is one of the largest pet product development and distribution companies in the Nordics, with a total turnover of €100 million. NPCG supplies major grocery and pet trade shops with its own brands like Best Friend and Hurtta. In addition, NPCG also distributes wild bird feed from its own factory in Denmark.