Alantra advised Kester Capital on the management buy-out of Jollyes Retail Group Limited

May 2018

Debt financing

London– Alantra has provided debt advisory services to Kester Capital on the management buy-out of Jollyes Retail Group Limited (“Jollyes”), a leading UK pet retailer.

Founded in 1935, Jollyes is the UK’s second largest pet retailer with a portfolio of over 70 superstores and concessions across the UK.Jollyes focuses on providing its loyal and growing customer base with pet products and services that combine great quality and value and over time has developed a very successful range of own brand products, including its K9 and Lifestage brands.In 2014, Jollyes launched an e-commerce website to develop its multi-channel offering. Jollyes has also recently expanded its offering to customers to include grooming and veterinary services in store.

Following the acquisition, David Hutchinson will take over as CEO. David has held senior executive roles in a number of UK retail businesses, most recently at Greencross Limited, Australia’s leading pet retailer and veterinary services provider.

David Hutchinson, CEO, commented: “Jollyes is a fantastic retail business showing consistent growth and providing its customers and their pets with a wide range of products and services.I look forward to building on the great work of the previous owners and to continuing to provide the best value one-stop pet care offer in the market.”

Adam Maidment, Founding Partner, Kester Capital said: “We have been very impressed by Jollyes strong pet retail offering and congratulate Nick Pollard, owner and outgoing Managing Director, on what he has achieved. We are looking forward to working with David and the team at Jollyes and supporting the business in its growth ambitions.”

Guy Taylor, Director at Alantra who led the deal alongside partner Andrew Shellard, commented, “We are delighted to have advised Kester Capital on their management buy-out of Jollyes Retail Group, a business which clearly exemplifies the growth potential in pet retail. Currently valued at £7.1bn, the pet product market has demonstrated consistent growth which is in turn contributing to strong lender appetite.This growth is due to highly attractive market dynamics including the increased value and frequency of spend on pets, the shift towards specialist breeds, demand for premium products including advanced nutritional products and medical care and higher levels of disposable income among the pet owning demographic.”