Trail invests in zooplus
Paris – Trail, the European private equity firm, invests in zooplus alongside leading private equity funds EQT and Hellman & Friedman, who have partnered in October 2021 to take zooplus private from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Founded in 1999 in Munich, Germany, zooplus is Europe’s leading e-commerce player for pet food and accessories. The company serves a loyal customer base of over eight million active pet parents in 30 countries. The company’s product range includes well-known international brands, popular local brands and an exclusive, high-quality portfolio of over 30 own brands.
zooplus has successfully developed a European presence with a leading market share in key countries, with revenues growing from 178 million euros in 2010 to 2.1 billion euros in 2021 (25% CAGR over 11 years).
zooplus’ market is particularly attractive with strong growth and resilience drivers, including an increased number of pets, the accelerated adoption of specialized pet care, “premiumization” trend with the “humanization of pets” as well as strong tailwinds from overall shift to online which accelerated with the COVID-19 crisis and subsequent lockdowns.
The transaction, in which TRAIL participates, is aimed at supporting zooplus’ next phase of development to strengthen the company’s competitive edge in the European market through investments in digital excellence, product assortment and service offering, accelerated own-brand and accessories penetration, best-in-class logistics and improved customer experience.
About Trail
Trail is an independent European private equity investment firm, set-up in 2007 with over €850 million cumulated capital managed to date. Trail’s team helps high performing small and mid-size European companies scale up in size, scope and geographical boundaries with a specific focus on Asia. Trail is committed to long-term, responsible and value-creating investment. Trail has three offices in Paris, Luxembourg and Beijing.