This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
MORE than 40 pet retail stores and 25 co-located veterinary hospitals will be put to the market as a condition of the corporate regulator’s approval of Woolworths’ $586 million majority takeover of Petstock.
Woolworths agreed to buy a 55% stake in Petspiration Group, which trades as Petstock, in December last year. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission formally began looking into the transaction early in 2023 due to concerns the move could hamper competition after “it emerged that Petstock had completed a large number of acquisitions in the pet industry in recent years that had not been notified to the ACCC”, according to the ACCC said.
Petstock is the pet industry’s second-biggest company, behind only Greencross.
To alleviate the ACCC’s concerns, Petstock and Woolworths offered court-enforceable undertakings, including for Petstock. to sell off 41 pet retail stores, 25 co-located veterinary hospitals, four brands and two online retails stores
“The ACCC has accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from Petstock Pty Ltd (Petstock) to divest a package of sites and assets, including 41 retail stores, following the ACCC’s enforcement investigation into past acquisitions by Petstock,” the ACCC said yesterday.
“The ACCC will not oppose Woolworths’ proposed acquisition of a 55% controlling interest in Petstock, and has also accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from Woolworths to support the Petstock divestiture.”
ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said, “After extensive consultation with market participants and a comprehensive review of the parties’ internal documents, data and research, we consider Woolworths’ proposed acquisition of a 55% interest in Petstock is unlikely to substantially lessen competition”.
Petstock divestments will include the Best Friends Pets and OurVet brands, the Best Friends Pets website, plus 26 Best Friends Pets stores and 25 co-located veterinary hospitals in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and the ACT; as well as the My Pet Warehouse brand and its online store, two My Pet Warehouse stores in Queensland and one in Western Australia that is now Petstock Osborne Park, the Pet City brand, 10 Pet City stores located in Western Australia, the Animal Tuckerbox store that is now Petstock Launceston Central, and the Pet & Aquarium Warehouse store in Melbourne’s Eltham that is now Petstock Eltham Central.
