Blackstone Acquires Pet Care Company Rover
The global pet industry is a gargantuan one, with Bloomberg Intelligence predicting growth to $500B by 2030. In the US, 66% of households, which is equivalent to 86.9 million homes, own a pet, with an average annual spending per pet owner of $1480 in 2023.
This makes operating in the industry an opportunistic venture for professionals, businesses, and organizations. Large online marketplace company Rover gets the idea, providing pet owners with various pet-related services.
Recently, investment and asset management firm Blackstone acquired Rover in an all-cash deal of approximately $2.3B, expected to close in the first quarter of 2024.
It’s A Pet’s World
Founded in Seattle more than a decade ago in 2011, Rover connects pet owners with pet care providers that offer dog walking and training, dog boarding, pet and house sitting, as well as a daycare program. Pet parents can drop their pets off at Rover’s establishments that offer feeding as well as supervised nap and playtime.
Rover, formally incorporated under the name “A Place for Rover, Inc.,” grew its business quite swiftly when it acquired dog boarding company DogVacay in 2017 and DogBuddy in 2018.
With Rover ensuring that every provider in their marketplace is qualified, trustworthy, and all pre-screened as well as reviewed by other users, having Rover’s services available gives pet parents plenty of comfort and relief during busy times.
Rover lets pet owners book and schedule any of their pets’ needs quite conveniently via the company’s website and app. Rover is also said to provide updates and photos of pets under its care to their owners.
Acquisition and Global Expansion
The COVID-19 pandemic, which canceled plenty of times away from home, brought Rover down for quite some time, causing a drop in customer numbers and a 41% workforce layoff. Conditions improved when Rover turned into a publicly traded company in 2021, as it merged with Nebula Caravel Acquisition Corp.
News of Blackstone’s acquisition of Rover has raised Rover’s stock to about 28%, giving every Rover shareholder $11 per share. The acquisition agreement includes a 30-day “go-shop” period, which allows Rover to pursue alternative acquisition proposals from other parties before the deal with Blackstone closes. Once closed, Rover will be made a private company.
Rover, which opens up its services to pet owners in the US, Canada, and Europe, is said to be active in over 30,000 neighborhoods and received 1.8 million bookings during the fourth quarter of 2023.
With Blackstone’s network and connections in the pet care industry, the acquisition can be expected to help Rover grow and connect with more companies and organizations in the industry, bringing it closer to a global expansion and making more pet parents around the world happier.
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