26 Oct 2020 Rutland Announces Sale of Armitage Pet Care to Spectrum Brands
Rutland Partners is pleased to announce that on 26 October 2020 it completed the sale of Armitage Pet Care (“Armitage”) to Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: “SPB”) for an enterprise value of £140m. The disposal from Rutland Fund III realises a return for investors of 5.7x on the cost of investment.
Armitage is the leading independent supplier of branded pet treats and toys in the UK. It trades mainly through the Good Boy® brand which has established a leading position in the premium natural segment of the dog treats market and is recognised for its innovation and agility.
Rutland acquired Armitage in September 2017 and in three years has transformed the capabilities of the business. The transformation included the recruitment of a new CEO, Mark Andrews, and several other senior hires in key roles. Operationally, significant investment was made in the business to support and drive above market growth. This included a warehouse move to an outsourced solution, a new ERP IT system and a total overhaul of the supply chain function.
Investment was also directed towards a new product development with numerous additional listings won in core dog treats plus a successful launch of a new range of premium cat treats under the “Meowee!®” brand. Since acquisition, sales have grown by 50% to over £65m and the Good Boy® brand has secured a spot in the UK’s top 100 grocery challenger brands.
Ben Slatter, Partner at Rutland, said: “We are delighted with this very strong outcome for our investors in Rutland Fund III. Armitage has delivered consistent growth by developing on-trend premium natural products in a very attractive niche within the pet category. We worked closely with the team at Armitage to provide everything the business required to create a strong platform to fuel this growth. We wish Mark and the team all the best for the future.”
Mark Andrews, CEO of Armitage, said: “I’d like to thank Rutland for their partnership and support over the last three years. Together we have achieved a total transformation of Armitage and it has been a pleasure to work with them. Looking forward we are extremely well placed to continue to grow our brands and build on our market leading position.”
Post-completion, Armitage will join forces with SPB’s European Pet Businesses including SmartBone and IAMS. The business will be able to leverage considerable resources available within the wider SPB group in pursuit of continued growth.
The transaction was led on behalf of Rutland by Ben Slatter and Matthew Hamilton-Allen.
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