NXMH Acquires Whitebridge, Maker of Tiki Pets, Dogswell, Crazy Dog, Grizzly

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Press release: Whitebridge Pet Brands

Whitebridge Pet Brands, LLC, a leader in natural and minimally processed pet foods, complements, treats and supplements, announced today it has been acquired by NXMH, a Belgium-based family-owned investment firm. Whitebridge has been a portfolio company of Frontenac since 2014. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.

Whitebridge Pet Brands, led by CEO Olivier Amice, was founded in January 2015 with the merger of Cloud Star, a leading pet treat manufacturer and Petropics, maker of Tiki Cat and Tiki Dog pet foods. In April 2017, Whitebridge Pet Brands acquired Dogswell, a leading brand of functional jerkies for dogs. In January 2020, the company acquired Cardinal Pet Care, maker of Pet Botanics and Crazy Dog training treats. And in March 2021, Whitebridge Pet Brands completed the acquisition of Grizzly Pet Products, a leader in pet supplements.

“At Whitebridge Pet Brands, our team shares a passion for pets and the belief that natural and minimally processed nutrition positively impacts the health and happiness of dogs and cats,” said Olivier Amice, CEO of Whitebridge. “In the spirit of our ‘Better Together’ philosophy, we are now very excited to join forces with NXMH alongside their other international petfood businesses. The new combined scale and footprint will allow us to continue to build our platform and accelerate our development, with more innovation, geographic expansion and new acquisitions.”

“We are proud of our successful partnership with Whitebridge and of its entire management team,” commented Walter Florence, managing partner of Frontenac. “We are confident that Whitebridge and its brands will continue their strong growth under NXMH’s ownership.”

“Since our original investment and in partnership with our CEO1st executive, Olivier Amice, we have successfully executed on our strategic vision,” added Joseph Rondinelli, principal of Frontenac. “During our ownership, Whitebridge completed five acquisitions and we invested in scaling the organization which enabled the company to achieve exceptional organic growth through a combination of innovation and expanded points of distribution in North America and globally.”

“We thank Frontenac for their unwavering support over the last seven years which allowed us to build what our company is today and look forward to the next phase of growth in partnership with NXMH,” Amice added.

“We have been impressed by the Whitebridge team and what the company has accomplished over the last few years,” said Jamie Hong, managing director of NXMH. “We share their strong nutritional philosophy of minimally processed, natural petfood, and we are excited to continue the journey with a focus on pet health, innovation and strong partnerships with distributors and retailers around the globe.”

Customers and consumers can be assured of minimal disruption. Houlihan Lokey acted as financial advisors to Whitebridge Pet Brands. Winston & Strawn LLP served as legal counsel to the company.