Avallon MBO has signed an agreement to acquire 100% shares in the MPPK Group as part of an IBO transaction and is waiting for the consent of UOKiK. The company is one of the leaders in the pet food industry in Poland, focusing on dry and wet dog and cat food in the premium and mid-premium segment.
The company from Szymanów in Lower Silesia began operations in 2013, building a wide range of products for pets in the pet food segment. The company’s most recognizable brands are Wiejska Zagroda and Pan Mięsko, supplemented by distributed brands Alpha Spirit and Primal Spirit.
The immediate plans of the MPPK Group include introducing new, complementary products, acquiring additional partners and increasing business scale. One of the planned development directions is also acquiring shares or joining forces with a high-quality pet food manufacturer.
The private equity fund Avallon MBO has signed an agreement to acquire the entire package of shares in the MPPK Group. This is the eighth transaction within the Avallon MBO Fund III. The company, which has been operating since 2013 and is based in Szymanów in Lower Silesia, offers nutritionally balanced pet food under the brands Wiejska Zagroda and Pan Mięsko, and is the exclusive distributor of the Spanish brands Alpha Spirit and Primal Spirit. Its products are available in over 2,000 points of sale throughout Poland: pet shops, veterinary clinics, online stores, and breeders.
In 2022, the company’s revenues amounted to PLN 110 million, marking a year-on-year increase of as much as 49 percent. The vast majority of MPPK’s sales are brands Wiejska Zagroda and Pan Mięsko. The flagship product of the company sold under the brand Wiejska Zagroda is premium food made from high-quality dried and fresh meat, without grains, soy, artificial preservatives, and fillers. By expanding its product portfolio, the company intends to strengthen the product segment dedicated to cats, introduce sachets for sale, as well as snacks and dog treats. Products under the brand Pan Mięsko, available since 2021, are mid-premium pet food made from high-quality dried meat, combining an affordable price with good quality.
Izabela Ciąćka, Investment Manager at Avallon MBO, explains, “We are delighted to have successfully completed the company’s purchase in the pet food segment with our team. We have thus fulfilled the task set for us, i.e., entering three new market areas: the IT industry (Globema – 2022), modern food (Hortimex – 2022), and the quality pet food segment. We see a huge potential for these types of products. Pets are increasingly treated by us as family members, which affects the decision about the quality of the purchased food. Consumers are better educated and aware of the impact of nutrition on the health and condition of their pets, so they are increasingly looking for grain-free food that has additional health benefits and products using high-quality ingredients. Poland has the sixth-largest population of dogs in Europe. However, our market is still relatively young, and the popularity of ready-made pet food is much smaller than in Western Europe. Only 35 percent of dogs in Poland are given ready-made food, while in Belgium or Germany, this percentage is estimated to be significantly higher. The potential for growth is big, and the sale of dog food on our home market is steadily increasing.”
The size of the global pet food market exceeded $113 billion in 2021. It is expected to grow by 5.1 percent (CAGR) by 2027. The retail sale of dog food reached PLN 3.1 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow at the current CAGR value of 7 percent, to a projected value of PLN 4.4 billion. The portfolio of brands offered by the MPPK Group has an estimated market share in Poland of about 4 percent.
After the purchase of the MPPK Group, the Avallon fund portfolio also includes 10 other companies: Wosana and Hortimex – from the food industry, the purchasing platform Marketplanet, the marketing company EDC Expert, Clovin – a company specializing in the production of cleaning products, Globema a provider of geospatial software and IT services, the manufacturer of mobile homes Letniskowo, Norlys – a manufacturer of high-quality external lighting equipment, TES – a manufacturer of machines and electric components, and the company SAT – the owner of the S’portofino sports & fashion store chain.
