Bidding war between private equity companies ends in acquisition by buyout specialist KKR.
KKR has had its winning bid of £955m accepted for the sale of Pets at Home. According to a report in The Guardian, current owner, private equity group Bridgepoint had been in talks with several potential buyers, including four private equity houses.

The 232-strong pet products chain had originally been tipped to go for around £700m. However, its price tag was boosted by the amount of buyer interest and strong trading results over the Christmas period when, reported The Guardian, the cold weather boosted sales of dog coats and rabbit hutch covers.

Pets at Home chief executive Matt Davies will keep his position and welcomes KKR's investment in the company.

Pets at Home saw a 15.4% increase in earnings before incidentals, tax, depreciation and amortisations (EBITDA) to £70m for the year to March 26, 2009, with sales up 14% to £404.3m. Pre-tax profit was also up 29%.