Norton Rose Fulbright advises Petspiration Group on sale of 55 per cent equity to Woolworths Group

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Petspiration Group, a leading Australian and New Zealand speciality pet food, accessories and services retailer, on an agreement to sell a majority equity stake to Woolworths Group.

Petspiration Group is an omnichannel specialty pet retailer, engaged in the pet retail, grooming, veterinary services, pet day care, wholesale and animal training industry. Petspiration Group is the owner and operator of leading retail brand PETstock, and uses a network of 276 stories across Australia and New Zealand.

Petspiration Group founders Shane and David Young, together with management and other existing shareholders, will retain the remaining 45 per cent equity in a long-term partnership arrangement. Shane and David Young will also continue as chief executive and managing director respectively, running Petspiration as a stand-alone business within Woolworths Group under a separate board and governance structure. The deal is subject to regulatory approval in Australia and New Zealand.

The Norton Rose Fulbright team’s role included vendor legal due diligence, structuring advice, competition law advice, document drafting and negotiation.

Norton Rose Fulbright corporate M&A partner Marshall Bromwich commented:

“This deal is indicative of the continued interest we are seeing major companies take in expanding and developing their specialty retail offerings. We are pleased to have worked with the Petspiration Group team for over 20 years now. It is a business founded and still headquartered in Ballarat, Victoria and this transaction helps to lay a foundation for its next stage of growth.”

The Norton Rose Fulbright team included partners Marshall Bromwich, Ka-Chi Cheung, Nick McHugh, Kate Muller Martin Osborne and Georgina Hey; as well as Laura Martin, Michelle Martin, Dietrich Marquardt, Linda Lau, Roxanne Truter, Amy Parry, Jonathan McMillan, Tim Chia, Tom Grogan and Terry Stavrianos.

Norton Rose Fulbright has advised on a range of other prominent recent deals in Australia, including:

• assisting Cover-More, a subsidiary of Zurich Insurance, on the sale of Benestar to TELUS Corporation, a TSX and NYSE listed wellbeing provider.
• advising global consulting, construction, engineering and operating company Egis on its acquisition of sustainable engineering and consulting services business Calibre Professional Services.
• advising Colliers, a leading international diversified professional services and investment management company, on its acquisition of a controlling interest in engineering and urban design group PEAKURBAN.
• advising global high-tech engineering group Sandvik on its agreement to acquire Australian advanced optimisation software and services company, Polymathian Industrial Mathematics.
• advising Sandvik on its proposed acquisition of Deswik Group, a Brisbane-based software business that focuses on mining industry products.
• acting as legal advisors for Gaw Capital Partners on its majority investment in Maoneng Group’s portfolio of BESS and solar development projects across Australia. 
• advised the leading green fuel developer InterContinental Energy on bp’s entry into the Asian Renewable Energy Hub (also known as the AREH project).
• advising Federation Asset Management on its investment in the Riverina and Darlington Point Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) in New South Wales.
• advising in relation to bp’s entry into the Asian Renewable Energy Hub – the world’s largest renewables and green hydrogen energy hub planned for the Pilbara region of Western Australia,
• advising ENEOS on its Joint Venture with TotalEnergies to develop onsite B2B solar distributed generation across Asia.