Fast-growing Inspired Pet Nutrition (IPN) has agreed to buy Sopral, a French premium dry petfood manufacturer, as part of its plans for “ambitious” growth on the Continent.
Providing a “state-of-the-art manufacturing, logistics and sales platform” for IPN’s European operations, it is understood the deal will add almost €100m (£86.3m) worth of sales to the group’s annual turnover of £350m.
The sale was revealed earlier today (8 July) after IPN owner CapVest agreed terms with Parquest, the French investment firm that has owned Sopral since late 2018. The deal remains subject to regulatory approval, and financial terms have not been disclosed.
Sopral’s feed and nutritional supplements are sold in nearly 1,200 stores throughout France, with DTC sales also coming in from a “fast-growing” online presence. It sells to more than 50 countries worldwide.
The sale will give IPN, which owns the British dogfood brands Harringtons, Butcher’s, and Wagg, access to Sopral’s manufacturing site, where it employs more than 130 staff.
IPN CEO Arthur van Benthem said Sopral’s sales growth, “outstanding capabilities”, leading brands, and high product quality made it a “highly complementary” strategic acquisition.
“[Sopral] provides us with a state-of-the-art manufacturing, logistics, and sales platform to grow and realise our ambitious growth plans in the European market.”
The move follows IPN’s acquisition of wetfood specialist Butcher’s in August 2024, which boosted group revenues to more than £350m.
Bringing together the UK’s leaders in wet and dry petfood, the deal represented a significant scaling up of CapVest’s pet platform. IPN then announced it would appoint Benthem as its new CEO – specifically for his experience in developing and growing international businesses.
Matthew Fargie, principal at CapVest, said the Sopral deal was “another great addition” to the fast-growing IPN platform, “creating significant capability and scale” to underpin European growth.
“The acquisition will unlock a number of new opportunities for organic and acquisition-led growth and is a great example of CapVest’s passion for building strong, differentiated global companies through significant investment in people, technology, innovation, and capabilities.”
The acquisition will mark an exit for Parquest, which took on Sopral with a mission to “unlock the company’s full potential” in 2018.
“Collectively, we have transformed a quality-focused manufacturer into a premium brand, firmly positioned in high-growth markets. We revamped the flagship brands, strengthened the distribution network, launched an e-commerce platform, and doubled production capacity. We would like to warmly thank Yannick [Guého, Sopral CEO] and his team for their unwavering commitment throughout this journey.”
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