FountainVest buys New Zealand pet food business

The deal – worth NZ$1.5 billion ($1.1 billion), according to Bloomberg – is intended to support Ziwi’s ambitions for global growth. It also extends private equity involvement in the pet food and pet services space, in New Zealand, Australia, and China.

Earlier this year, KKR acquired New Zealand-based Natural Pet Food Group with a view to developing an international footprint that currently covers China and Japan in Asia as well as North America and Australasia. Asian expansion was also on the agenda when Hosen Capital, New Hope Group, and Temasek Holdings bought Australia’s Real Pet Food in 2018.

Both companies were already owned by private equity investors keen to tap into the “humanization” of pets, which has stimulated demand for premium products and services globally. Recent China investment activity around this theme involves pet-focused lifestyle brand Vetreska, pet smart device manufacturer Petkit, and pet food producers Chongxing and Gambol.

Ziwi was founded in 2002 by Peter Mitchell, a free-range deer farmer who supplied meat to pet food companies around the world. Frustrated that his natural raw ingredients were being blended with inexpensive carbohydrates to create less nutritious, highly processed kibble, he spent two years developing a better-quality product.

Mitchell claims to have invented the world’s first raw alternative air-dried pet food, which locks in the goodness of raw ingredients without relying on artificial preservatives. Ziwi’s product range currently spans air-dried and wet food for cats and dogs, as well as various chews, treats, and bones.

The existing management team will remain in place and reinvest in it alongside FountainVest. “This partnership is about maintaining Ziwi’s high-quality standards and natural New Zealand-sourced approach to pet nutrition, while serving more pet guardians worldwide,” said Richard Lawrence, a managing director at the company, in a statement.

FountainVest is currently raising its fourth China fund, which has a target of $2.8 billion and a hard cap of $3.2 billion. A first close of more than $1 billion came in the final quarter of 2020.

The firm invests internationally where there is a China expansion angle. Notable cross-border deals include a EUR4.6 ($5.23 billion) take-private of Finland’s Amer Sports, which owns brands such as Salomon, Atomic, and Louisville Slugger. China’s Anta Sports and Tencent Holdings also participated in the investment.

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• Topics
• Australasia
• Greater China
• Buyouts
• Consumer
• New Zealand
• China
• Fountainvest Partners