Pet Valu Holdings, one of Canada's largest pet food and accessory stores, is going public.
The company has filed a preliminary prospectus announcing it has applied to list its shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange in a move aimed at reducing its debt load.
Pet Valu’s initial public offering (IPO) comes amid a pandemic-driven boom in pet ownership.
Pet Value has said that it plans to double its store count across Canada over the next two decades.
As is typical for a preliminary prospectus, the company did not disclose how many shares it is looking to sell, nor did it set a price range for the public offering.
Since its founding in 1976, Pet Valu has grown to more than 600 corporate-and-franchise-owned stores, along with 1,815 staff that work under several company banners including Pet Valu, Bosley's, Total Pet, and Tisol.
Pet Valu said in its prospectus that it reported $648 million in revenue in 2020, an increase from $574 million the previous year. Pet Valu booked $29 million in net income last year, a 4% increase from a year earlier. The company also said it has averaged 10% same-store-sales growth over the past five years.
Pet Valu said it also counts 1.4 million people as part of its loyalty program. People who are part of the company's loyalty program buy 72% more at the register than those who aren't part of that program.
Canadian spending on pet care grew at a steady 6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 1994 to 2016, but has recently increased 10% to $10.6 billion a year, Pet Valu said.
This will be Pet Valu's second time tapping public markets after it was taken over by Roark Capital Group, an Atlanta-based private equity firm, in 2009 for $144 million.
