I don’t do much without my little brindle side kick. She comes to the office, on dates, and Bunnings runs. I always order her a side of bacon on brunch outings and she frequently enjoys some cheeky nuggets when we find ourselves at a Maccas drive through. She exemplifies ‘man’s best friend’. 

Unsurprisingly many Australians have added some fur to their family with 6.8 million households nationwide owning a pet, 15% higher than pre-pandemic. 

The lift in pet ownership has seen a marked increase in demand for pet related goods and services where a few companies have benefitted. We spend a whopping $20.5 billion on dogs, and $10.5 billion on cats per year. That cute plush wine bottle was too cute to pass up though, I mean honestly (see picture above). 

Mad Paws (ASX: MPA) is one of those, having originally begun as a pet care marketplace it has now expanded into a robust pet services and products business. The Mad Paws marketplace allows pet owners to find services like pet sitting, dog walking and grooming.

Mad Paws also offers a subscription pet meal service called Dinner Bowl and a toys and treats subscription box through their recently acquired brand, Waggly Club. 

MPA is now extending their reach in line with their strategy to move into health verticals to include your pet’s medical needs, adding Pet Chemist Online to their portfolio. The business is a prominent supplier of pet medication and healthcare products and managed to rake in $5.4 million in revenue, breaking even on their EBITDA in FY21. Pet Chemist boasts over 44,000 active customers with 64% of their monthly sales being from repeat customers. 

“The combination of Mad Paws and Pet Chemist creates a dominant market leader in online pet medication and premium pet healthcare products with significant growth potential,” said Justus Hammer, Co-Founder and CEO of Mad Paws. “We are delighted to welcome the Founders of Pet Chemist, Howard and Mel, and the rest of the team to Mad Paws and look forward to accelerating the combined Group’s growth and performance.”

Mad Paws will pay $25 million for 100% ownership of Pet Chemist Online, $14.5 million of that will be in MPA shares issued at a 16% premium. Initial consideration will also include $5.5 million in cash. The remaining $5 million will be payable based on revenue performance hurdles over the next two years and will be paid out in a combination of MPA shares and cash. 

The acquisition will be finalised in April 2022, pending shareholder approval.