Dane Creek Capital Corp. (‘DCCC’ or the ‘Company’), the pet industry merchant bank, is pleased to announce it has acquired 100% of Pets4Life, a leading manufacturer of gourmet frozen raw pet food for dogs and cats based in St. Thomas, Ontario. The transaction closed on January 31. The purchase price represented approximately 0.6 times 2017 revenue. No other financial details were announced.
Pets4Life raw pet food meals are manufactured out of a single facility and sold mainly through pet specialty retailers in Ontario. All its formulas are certified to meet the Association of American Feed Control Official’s (‘AAFCO’) standards for complete and balanced nutrition for all life stages of dogs and cats. Pets4Life is one of the few Canadian companies that also offers a wholly organic line made with Certified Organic ingredients. Prior to its acquisition, Pets4Life was owned and operated by Glenn and Sherry Forrester since 2010, both of whom will continue in their roles at the company.
“We are pleased to complete our first acquisition of a premium raw pet food company in Ontario,” says Glen Tennison, President & CFO of DCCC. “Pets4Life offers a variety of unique formats that will allow us to expand our footprint within the category while we leverage our increasing expertise to drive revenue growth and increase market share.”
The announcement marks DCCC’s second investment in the frozen raw space and one of several planned investments in 2018. The Company announced its first investment in raw pet food in September 2017 when it acquired 100% of Alberta-based manufacturer Mountain Dog Enterprises Inc. (‘Mountain Dog’), the only raw pet food manufacturer in Canada with HACCP Canada (‘HACCP’) certification. HACCP or ‘Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points’ is a system of food safety and quality control required by federally regulated food manufacturers under the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (‘CFIA’).
In related news, DCCC’s previously announced plans to invest in the Nova Scotia-based raw pet food manufacturer Totally Raw Natural Dog Food Inc. have been canceled and discussions have ended. The Company now plans to build its own Nova Scotia-based facility to manufacture raw and freeze-dried fresh pet food products. Drawing on the success of Mountain Dog as an industry leader in quality manufacturing, the new facility will be equipped with state of the art machinery and operated to CFIA standards with HACCP certification. Completion of the Nova Scotia facility will provide DCCC with manufacturing capacity for raw pet food products in three provinces spanning the Canadian market.
