Pet retailer Petco wants to hold an IPO
Petco Health and Wellness, a company that sells pet products in the United States, has announced that it is going public. The decision to IPO is due to analysis, it showed that Americans have started to spend more money on their pets. Therefore, now is the perfect time to list the company’s stock on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Petco stock will go under the ticker WOOF, a word consonant with the Russian “Gav”.
According to the company’s analysis, the number of people who have pets has increased significantly during the pandemic and this year. In 2020 alone, this number increased by 4%. In turn, sales of pet care products have increased by $4 billion.
Since the beginning of last year, Petco’s sales are up 9%. In addition, the company has cut losses by 77%.
The IPO was first talked about in 2015, but then Petco was bought out by two investment firms for $4.6 billion. Now the retailer’s owners are thinking about an initial public offering. According to preliminary projections, the procedure could raise about $6 billion. However, when the IPO will take place and its terms are still unknown. At the moment, the Petco’s management is considering various options for this procedure, picking consultants. Despite the fact that the IPO is planned until the end of the year, the management companies may abandon the idea.
Petco has 1,500 stores located in the U.S., Mexico and Puerto Rico. At the beginning of the pandemic, the company had a difficult time with declining physical sales, but things soon picked up thanks to increased demand for online shopping. Another move to boost profits was the opening of grooming salons and veterinary offices on store premises. Last year, Petco launched an online vet service, PetCoach. which is growing rapidly.
Another reason for the company’s decision to go public was the example of its competitor, online pet supply store Chewy. The latter was able to increase the value of its shares by three times during the IPO process.
Petco was founded in 1965 as a company offering products for the veterinary industry. Gradually, the product line expanded and the mail-order sales format evolved into point-of-sale.
Until 2005, Petco stores sold birds, including large exotic parrots. After criticism, however, the company had to abandon this line of business. Three years later, the retailer also stopped offering rabbits. The company has never sold cats or dogs.
