Boyu, Confitop lead pre-IPO round for China pet food player

Other investors include Riverhead Capital, Mango Fund, Sino Pacific Capital, Shanghai-listed Wuchan Zhongda Group, and GP Capital.

The proceeds will be used to build new production facilities and support R&D and testing centres. Founded in 2012, Seek Pet is a pet food original equipment manufacturer (OEM) that serves many well-known domestic brands, including pet food lines launched by Netease and JD.com.

It has established a complete supply chain system, operating as a one-stop shop for pet food and treats. Last year, Seek Pet invested CNY 170m in a new integrated fresh meat-based food production line. It claims to produce high-quality pet food with at least 85% fresh meat content. The entire process - from selecting chickens and ducks to packaging takes as little as six hours.

The company expects a new production facility with a 15,000-square-meter R&D centre to come online this year.

Increased private equity investment in China's pet food industry comes at a time of rapid growth as owners seek higher quality, more nutritious food for their pets. Recent deals include L Catterton backing Shanghai Enova Pet Products, which owns local premium pet food brand Pure & Natural.

Pet food producers Chongxing and Gambol have also received PE investment, while capital is also flowing into various other pet care verticals. These include pet-focused lifestyle brand Vetreska, pet smart device manufacturer Petkit.

Meanwhile, others are looking to bring global brands into China. This was part of the rationale for FountainVest Partners and KKR acquiring Ziwi and Natural Pet Food Group, respectively. Both companies are located in New Zealand.

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• Topics
• Expansion
• Greater China
• Consumer
• China
• GP Capital
• Boyu Capital