Roark Capital Group has acquired Pet Supermarket, a pet specialty retailer, from Charles West, Jr., the company’s founder. Pet Supermarket will remain headquartered in Sunrise, FL, and continue to be led by Diane Holtz, its Chief Executive Officer. Pet Supermarket is Roark’s fourth investment in the pet specialty sector.
Pet Supermarket operates 155 pet specialty retail stores in 11 states and generates approximately $300 million of annual revenue. The company has more than 10,000 SKU’s and sells premium and holistic pet food and a wide variety of pet supplies for dogs, cats, birds, fish, reptiles and other small critters like gerbils and hamsters. The company was founded in 1973 as Pet Circus and was renamed Pet Supermarket in 1986 (www.petsupermarket.com).
“We are pleased to welcome Pet Supermarket to the Roark family,” said Ezra Field, Managing Director of Roark Capital. “Diane and her team operate a terrific pet specialty chain with friendly, knowledgeable staff that is clearly committed to customer service.”
“We are excited to have Roark as our growth partner,” said Ms. Holtz. “Roark brings to us incredible resources, consumer retail knowledge, and a collaborative approach to working with its portfolio companies that will enable us to accelerate Pet Supermarket’s growth.”
Financing for the transaction was arranged by Golub Capital. Pet Supermarket was advised by Houlihan Lokey.
Roark Capital Group invests in consumer and business services companies, with a focus on the franchise, food and restaurant, specialty retail, environmental services, waste management, and marketing services sectors. In December 2014, Roark held a final close of Roark Capital Partners IV LP at its hard cap of $2.5 billion. Since founding in 2001, Roark has raised over $6 billion of equity capital commitments. The firm, headquartered in Atlanta, takes its name from Howard Roark, the protagonist in Ayn Rand’s “The Fountainhead” (www.roarkcapital.com).
2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 5-14-15
