Orbis advise on the sale of Little BigPaw to Petbuddy Group AB
Orbis Partners have advised the shareholders of The First Class Pet Company (trading as Little BigPaw) on the sale of the business to Petbuddy Group AB, an investor backed group focussed on acquiring and growing premium pet brands. The transaction was led by Director, Steve Nock and Partner, James Grenfell with support from Senior Analyst, Adam Grenfell.
Established in 2011, Little BigPaw is a premium pet food brand selling a range of grain free, hypo-allergenic wet and dry pet food products designed for cats and dogs across all life stages. The brand uses high-quality, 100% natural ingredients with high levels of meat content and no additives. Little BigPaw has delivered strong growth over the last few years as a result of a growing international and domestic customer base of pet shop chains and specialist distributors. Post transaction, shareholders David Alton and Jim Weston will continue in their current roles.
Headquartered in Sweden, Petbuddy Group AB acquires, integrates and scales premium pet brands internationally using a combination of technology platforms and group synergies. Strongly influenced by humanisation and premiumisation trends, PBG looks to leverage synergies in sales, distribution and production by owning the entire value chain from factory to consumer.
As a premium brand with a loyal and growing customer base, Little BigPaw is well positioned for its next stage of growth. With their growing portfolio of premium pet brands and technological expertise, we are delighted to find an owner that will help the brand reach its full potential. The Orbis team demonstrated a strong knowledge of the petfood market and delivered excellent advice throughout the process.
David Alton and Jim Weston, Shareholders of Little BigPaw
Little BigPaw has the potential to be a global petfood brand as a result of its premium positioning and designed for export strategy. We are delighted to have assisted Jim and David in finding an owner who can take the business onto the next phase of its growth journey.
Legal advice to Little BigPaw was provided by Clare Lang, Corporate Partner at mfg Solictors with tax advice provided by Rob Pearce, Partner at Bishop Fleming.
