Zooplus surges as Hellman & Friedman sweetens bid to €3.3bn

Zooplus surged on Monday after US private equity firm Hellman & Friedman lifted its offer for the pet supply retailer to €3.29bn from €3bn.

The PE firm has raised its offer to €460 a share from €390. The new offer represents a premium of 50% to the three-month volume-weighted average share price.

Karl-Heinz Holland, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Zooplus, said: "After having independently assessed different strategic options as well as the partnership and takeover offer by Hellman & Friedman with due care, both boards regard the transaction to be in the best interest of the company and its shareholders.

"Therefore, we welcome the strategic partnership with Hellman & Friedman and support the offer as we believe this transaction will significantly benefit our customers, partners and employees while delivering immediate value to our shareholders."

The sweetened offer from Hellman & Friedman comes after Zooplus confirmed last week that it was in talks with buyout firms KKR and EQT about a potential counter-offer.