AlphaPet Ventures, Europe's leading digital brand platform for premium pet food, has acquired JR Pet Products, the leading UK premium brand for natural chews and dog snacks. This acquisition is another milestone in AlphaPet's successful buy-and-build strategy.
AlphaPet Ventures (AlphaPet) digitizes the pet market and successfully develops and distributes premium brands across Europe. The portfolio includes established brands such as Wolfsblut, Wildes Land, Arden Grange and Herrmann's Manufaktur. AlphaPet's multi-channel strategy combines strong digital direct sales (D2C) with a customer-oriented approach via its own platforms and partnerships with leading retail partners in the B2B segment.
JR Pet Products (JR) was founded in 2012 by Jonathan and Rebecca Davies, backed by a seed investment from close family friend Stephen Tandy. In recent years, JR has become the leading premium brand for natural dog snacks in the UK. The range includes high-quality, natural chews and snacks, which are sold via the company's own D2C store and selected B2B partners. The focus on the best raw materials and quality has secured JR a loyal and rapidly growing customer base.
Marco Hierling, founder and CEO of AlphaPet: “Jonathan and Rebecca have built a fantastic brand in JR that fits perfectly with our portfolio. JR ideally complements our commitment to healthy and high quality pet food and adds a leading brand of dog snacks to our offering.”
“With AlphaPet, JR gains access to extensive resources and an established European distribution network, which opens up great growth potential for the brand,” explains Fritjof Franz, Partner at capiton.
Jonathan and Rebecca Davies, founders and managing directors of JR: “The partnership with AlphaPet marks an exciting new chapter for JR. Together we aim to build on the strength of our brand and work with our trusted suppliers and customers to achieve our growth targets.”
The entire JR team will remain on board and Jonathan and Rebecca Davies will continue as Managing Directors.
The acquisition of JR Pet Products is AlphaPet's fourth acquisition since 2020 and a further step towards strengthening its position as the leading European platform for premium pet food and snacks.
The acquisition was financed through a combination of equity and debt. Patria Investments, an existing LP of capiton, acted as lead investor, supported by Venture Stars and existing AlphaPet shareholders.
Mark Nicolson, Partner and Head of Primary Investments at Patria, said: “We are delighted to enable the next chapter of value creation for AlphaPet and look forward with confidence to continuing our successful partnership with AlphaPet's exceptional management team and capiton, one of the highest performing managers in the European private equity market.”
The debt financing was provided by CVC, underlining their continued support of AlphaPet's buy-and-build strategy.
AlphaPet was advised by Ashfords (Legal UK), LutzAbel (Legal Germany), Deloitte (Financial and Tax), Allen & Overy (Financing Legal) and Sonntag & Partner (Tax & Structure). JR was advised by Quantuma Advisory (lead advisor) and Thomson Snell & Passmore (legal).
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