Arcaplanet Group, a portfolio company of the Permira Funds, is to acquire Mondial Pet Distribution, a company owned by the Pautassi family and by Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, which controls Fortesan, a specialised retail chain operating in the same sector.
Arcaplanet Group, founded in 1995 by CEO Michele Foppiani, manages 210 stores with over 10,000 SKUs, ranging from pet food and accessories to healthcare products. The Group has also developed its portfolio of owned brands, such as Start, Expecial, Next, HiFish and, more recently, Virtus. Since 2014, Arcaplanet has also been operating through its own e-commerce site. In 2016, Arcaplanet posted revenue of EUR169 million (+23 per cent compared to 2015), with over 1,000 employees.
Fortesan, founded in the late 90s by Vittorio Pautassi, currently operates through a network of 69 stores, in addition to its e-commerce channel. Over the years, the Company has developed a broad range of owned branded products able to meet the needs of its customers who are increasing their spending for the wellbeing of their pets. In 2016, Fortesan posted revenues of EUR50 million (+19 per cent compared to 2015).
The combined Group will have approximately 280 stores located across 15 Italian regions and will continue its ambitious growth path. The transaction is subject to approval from the Italian Antitrust Authority.
“We are delighted with our expansion path – said Michele Foppiani, founder and CEO of Arcaplanet – and the important agreement reached with Fortesan allows us to further strengthen our presence in the market; we are the third player in the sector at European level.”
“We are proud to have reached an agreement with Arcaplanet,” says Vittorio Pautassi, founder and Chairman of Mondial Pet Distribution – and the combination of the two pet care chains will further boost growth, in a market in which the ability to support investments will be essential.”
“We are very proud of having contributed, in partnership with Michele Foppiani and Arcaplanet team, to accelerating the Group’s development. Since our funds’ investment in June 2016,” says Fabrizio Carretti, Partner and Head of Permira Italy. “Arcaplanet Group has successfully completed 3 acquisitions: Zoomarketshop (Sardinia), Country Shop (Turin and its province) and now Fortesan.”
