Ebos buys Australian BlackHawk pet food business for $57.8M

Ebos buys Australian BlackHawk pet food business for $57.8 mln

By Paul McBeth

Oct. 31 (BusinessDesk) - Ebos Group, the healthcare and animal care products company, has bought Australia's BlackHawk Premium Pet Care pet food business for $57.8 million, which it expects will immediately add to earnings.

The acquisition is part of Ebos's plan to grab market share in the premium pet food sector, which it estimates is worth $720 million in Australia alone, the Christchurch-based company said in a statement. Ebos is funding the acquisition through existing debt, and may pay more by December next year if certain earnings targets are met.

"The long-term market dynamics for animal care are very attractive and provide us with the confidence to continue to seek assets like BlackHawk to further improve shareholder returns," chief executive Patrick Davies said. "Our animal care division has a strong route to market for both pet shops and veterinarians and we look forward to further leveraging the sales growth of BlackHawk through our existing market channels to drive increased market share."

Ebos generates about 16 percent of earnings from its animal care division, which it entered in December 2011 with the $105 million acquisition of MasterPet.

The bulk of Ebos's earnings come from last year's $1.1 billion acquisition of Australian pharmaceutical firm Symbion.

In August, Ebos bought a quarter-stake in Australian pharmacy retailer Good Price Pharmacy Warehouse for an undisclosed sum.

The company will update shareholders at today's annual meeting in Christchurch.

The shares rose 1.9 percent to $9.27, and have fallen 6.2 percent this year.

(BusinessDesk)

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