Pets at Home slumps as KKR offloads 12% stake
Shares in Pets at Home tanked on Tuesday after private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co sold 61 million shares in the company, equivalent to a stake of around 12.2%.
FTSE 250
19,824.16
16:59 26/04/24
FTSE 350
4,470.09
16:59 26/04/24
FTSE All-Share
4,423.59
17:14 26/04/24
General Retailers
3,910.25
16:59 26/04/24
Pets at Home Group
286.60p
16:35 26/04/24
KKR sold the shares at 195p each, raising aggregate gross sale proceeds of approximately £119m. Following completion of the placing, it will hold 62,013,086 ordinary shares in the company, representing a stake of around 12.4%.
Its remaining holding following completion of the placing will be subject to a 60 day lock-up and Pets will not receive any proceeds from the sale.
Shore Capital noted that the placing follows on from the recent capital markets day which highlighted the group’s progress in its strategy to compete more effectively in retail and the longer-term opportunity with the services business where a maturing network of vets should materially enhance profitability in time.
“The shares have responded well in recent months up 33% in the past three months and up 14% in the last month so it comes as no surprise to us that KKR has taken the decision to sell down some of its shareholding.”
At 0915 BST, the shares were down 8.5% to 197.58p.