Inspired Pet Nutrition (IPN) has announced the acquisition of fellow manufacturer Butcher’s Pet Care.
As well as the core Butcher’s dog food brand, the company also supplies cat food brands Blink! and Classic, as well as manufacturing own-label pet food for multiples and specialist retailers from its 385,000sq ft manufacturing and distribution facility in Crick, Northamptonshire.
IPN owns the Harringtons, Wagg, and Barking Heads brands, and is headquartered in Thirsk, North Yorkshire. The firm was acquired by international investment firm and buy-and-build specialist CapVest in 2020.
The deal, which is expected to complete in the fourth quarter of 2024, will see the enlarged group have sales in excess of £350m. Terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.
IPN has also announced it will appoint Arthur van Benthem as ceo of the enlarged group. A Dutch national, Van Benthem has held executive leadership roles across several markets in Europe, US, and the Asia/Pacific region with companies such as Unilever, the Coca-Cola Company, Royal FrieslandCampina, Imperial Brands and most recently Dunlop.
He said: “Butcher’s brand portfolio and business is highly complementary to IPN and consistent with our vision and strategy to expand the business and create a portfolio of natural, wet and dry pet food brands with superior nutrition, which is affordable and accessible to all pet owners.
“Strategically, it also provides us with an established platform and opportunity to expand our presence in the growing European pet food market. On completion of the transaction, we look forward to welcoming our new Butcher’s colleagues into the IPN family and working with them to realise our joint growth ambitions for the future.”
Kate Briant, senior partner at CapVest, added: “Butcher’s is a great addition to the IPN platform, creating a business of greater scale and presence across a range of categories, channels and customer segments. It also creates a solid platform to pursue further organic and acquisition-led growth with a particular focus on Europe.”
