Industry Report: Pet Q4 2025 [Peakstone]

Key Report Highlights

• M&A Activity Remains Resilient with Strategic Buyers Leading
  The U.S. pet industry continues to experience steady M&A activity, with 14 deals recorded in the first half of 2025. Strategic buyers remain dominant, accounting for the majority of transactions over the past 20 years. States like California, Texas, and Florida lead in deal count, reflecting their dense consumer and distribution infrastructure.
• Median Valuations Rebound Across Key Metrics
  After a brief decline in 2024, pet industry deal valuations rose in 2025. Median EV/EBITDA multiples reached 14.5x, up from 11.8x in the previous year, while EV/Revenue multiples improved to 2.1x. These figures reflect renewed investor appetite for differentiated platforms in areas like pet food, veterinary services, and digital wellness.
• Pet Care Outperforms Products and Food in Public Markets
  The stock performance chart on page 5 shows that the Pet Care and Services Index significantly outperformed its peers with a 139% total return since 2014, compared to 14% for Pet Food and a -23% decline in Pet Products. Public market multiples reinforce this trend, with Pet Care trading at 18.8x EV/EBITDA, well above the S&P 500’s 17.7x.
• High-Value Transactions Reflect Ongoing Industry Consolidation
  Noteworthy deals in the past 12 months include General Mills’ $1.45B acquisition of Whitebridge Pet Brands and Bansk Group’s $1.44B buyout of PetIQ. These transactions underscore strategic interest in pet treats, medication, and health-focused platforms. Other activity focused on veterinary real estate and wellness products points to consolidation across the value chain.
• Middle Market Platforms Still Command Interest Despite Macro Headwinds
  Despite economic volatility, smaller transactions continue to be active. Deals such as the $24M secondary stake in Shelby JV and the $46M acquisition of Ultra Pet reflect sustained interest in niche pet food and supplies. Buyers are targeting companies with IP, premium branding, and growing recurring revenue in health and specialty categories.

Peakstone Group is a Chicago-based, 40+ person investment bank that specializes in mergers and acquisitions advisory and capital raising. An Axial member since 2010, Peakstone works across a variety of industries and has marketed more than 270 deals on the Axial platform at the time of publication.

Peakstone is a trusted member of the Axial Partnership Program and contributes content and industry insights to Axial’s Middle Market Review. The following report is a Peakstone Group publication, which has been approved for Axial to share with its network.

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