WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Guardian Capital Partners, a private investment firm located in suburban Philadelphia, continues to support growth initiatives for its investment in the pet sector. In March 2019, following a series of pet industry add-on acquisitions made by Hyper Pet, a Guardian majority-owned portfolio company, the company announced a change of its corporate name to Cosmic Pet. The corporate rebranding was implemented to establish a new and differentiated corporate name which captures the ambitions of the three combined companies (Hyper Pet, R2P Pet, and OurPet’s), whose mission is to lead the global pet hardgoods industry by developing iconic, on-trend, high-quality, and cost effective products.
Additionally, on May 29, 2019, Cosmic Pet acquired PetFusion and partnered with PetFusion’s executive management team. PetFusion goes to market with a diverse portfolio of award-winning dog and cat products including cat furniture, dog beds, litter solutions, toys, and more. The PetFusion executive team of Andrew Roost, Ted Elliott, and Kevin Krueger joined the Cosmic Pet executive team and bring an exceptional understanding of e-commerce sales and marketing. Going forward, Andy, Ted, and Kevin will be responsible for the entire Cosmic Pet e-commerce channel strategy. The combination of these businesses creates greater focus and strength in the e-commerce channel and allows a faster go-to-market execution for PetFusion branded products utilizing Cosmic Pet’s new product development and strategic sourcing engines.
“PetFusion is a very exciting addition to the Cosmic Pet family of leading pet brands,” said Cosmic Pet CEO, Tim Blurton. “Its leadership team brings deep, valuable insight into the pet industry and the e-commerce channel that will benefit all Cosmic Pet brands.” Guardian is excited to add PetFusion to the Cosmic Pet roster of leading pet industry brands including: Hyper Pet, Pet Zone, OurPet’s, Aussie Naturals, Wild Eats, Ultra Paws, Mad Cat, and many more.
Pet Fusion is the fourth add-on investment for Cosmic Pet, further transforming Cosmic Pet into one of the largest pet hardgoods and accessories companies in North America. “The addition of PetFusion enhances the offering Cosmic Pet can provide to its valued end-customers and we are incredibly enthusiastic to have the PetFusion executive management team join Cosmic Pet’s extended management team.” said Peter Haabestad, co-founder and Managing Partner of Guardian and Chairman of Cosmic Pet. “This most recent add-on investment continues to demonstrate how much Guardian believes in Cosmic Pet as an outstanding platform company.”
The law firm DLA Piper advised Cosmic Pet and Guardian on the transaction. CIBC and its Pittsburgh PA-based team provided the senior financing.
For more information about the transaction, contact Peter Haabestad at 610-263-0103 or phaabestad@guardiancp.com.
About Guardian Capital Partners (www.guardiancp.com)
Guardian Capital Partners is a private equity firm based in suburban Philadelphia that invests in lower middle market consumer products, niche manufacturing, and specialty service companies. Guardian partners with management teams to provide equity capital to fuel the growth of family-owned businesses. The private equity experience and complementary skill sets of the Guardian team provide a unique combination of operating and finance capabilities resulting in certainty of execution and meaningful long-term value creation for its portfolio companies.
Guardian Capital Partners Disclosure: Guardian Capital Partners is a Pennsylvania based investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Investment Act of 1940. Market conditions can vary over time and past fund performance does not guarantee future fund results.
