The Colgate-Palmolive company has agreed to acquire Care TopCo, owner of the Australian Prime100 pet food brand – investing in an adjacent faster-growing product segment to Colgate-Palmolive’s core pet food categories as part of its growth strategy. According to the Australian Financial Review, the deal valued the business at almost $500 million.
Based in Melbourne, Australia, Prime100 is a fresh pet food brand offering both refrigerated and shelf stable products, sold to pet specialty and other retailers in Australia. Launched in 2014, Prime100 is a leading fresh pet food brand in Australia, with science-backed product lines and veterinary endorsement.
It is also a packaging leader, rolling out its premium dog food product line in Tetra Pak’s shelf stable Tetra Recart packaging system in 2023.
Australia has one of the highest levels of pet ownership in the world, with Australians spending an estimated $33 billion on pet services and products annually. According to Mordor Intelligence, the Australian pet food sector is valued at $6 billion, with a CAGR of four per cent.
This will be Colgate-Palmolive’s first fresh pet food brand, and will be managed under its Hill’s Pet Nutrition division, complementing its science-led, veterinarian-endorsed specialty pet food diets and strengthening its presence in the Australian pet food market.
Hill’s Pet Nutrition president, John Hazlin, said with the addition of Prime100, Hill’s will have an expanded portfolio of advanced nutrition products to help meet pets’ specialised dietary needs.
“We look forward to working with the Prime100 team and are confident that our joint expertise will drive new discoveries, empower veterinarians and provide pet parents with more tailored nutritional solutions,” said Hazlin.
The transaction will be financed with a combination of debt and cash and is currently expected to close in the second quarter of 2025. The acquisition is conditioned upon receipt of regulatory approval in Australia.
Colgate’s chairman and CEO, Noel Wallace, said Prime100 is a strong, veterinarian-endorsed, premium-priced brand with distinctive positioning that fits well within the company’s long-term pet nutrition growth strategy.
“We are excited that this acquisition will add a high-growth, profitable fresh dog food asset to the Hill’s division portfolio with the opportunity to drive continued growth through expanded distribution and awareness,” said Wallace.
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Addisons acted as legal advisors and BofA Securities acted as financial advisor to Colgate-Palmolive on the transaction. Gilbert + Tobin acted as legal advisors and Houlihan Lokey acted as financial advisor to Prime100 on the transaction.
The transaction is not expected to have a material impact on diluted earnings per share in 2025.
