OC&C Strategy Consultants advises Quadrant on sale of Prime100 to Colgate-Palmolive
A team from OC&C Strategy Consultants has supported private equity firm Quadrant on its sale of Australian pet food company Prime100 to global consumer goods giant Colgate-Palmolive.
Established in 2014, Prime100 manufactures a premium range of fresh ‘single-protein’ food products catering to dogs and cats with sensitive digestion. Quadrant picked up a majority stake in the company in 2021, which has since tripled in scale and expanded to the lucrative US market.
According to media reports, Prime100’s sale to Colgate-Palmolive is estimated to have valued the company at close to $500 million, up from around $150 million less than four years ago, with OC&C Strategy Consultants providing Quadrant with strategic advice and commercial vendor due diligence on the sizeable deal.
“This is a real home-grown success story,” Quadrant managing partner and Prime100 chairman Marcus Darville told the Australian Financial Review, adding that the company was well-positioned to continue its growth. “Colgate is one of the top pet care companies in the world, so it’s significant that a company of that size is interested in this Australian business.”
Prime100 will now join Colgate’s Hill’s Pet Nutrition division. Based in Melbourne, the company was born of the belief that food-based allergens contribute to a range of canine issues including itching and gas, and offers products such as slow-cooked salmon & tapioca rolls and air-dried duck with sweet potato, the latter which retails for $47.99 for a 600 gram package at Petbarn.
Advisory team
Leading the local due diligence team were Sydney-based OC&C Strategy Consultants partners Mark Blackwell and Maurice Violani along with associate partner Julie Preston, while UK partner Tom Gladstone assisted at the global level from the strategy consultancy’s head office in London. Houlihan Lokey, Gilbert + Tobin, and PwC also supported Quadrant on the transaction.
“We are pleased to congratulate Quadrant on the successful sale of Prime100, marking another milestone for Quadrant and reinforcing its pedigree in the sector after having previously scaled and sold City Farmers and VIP Pet Foods,” OC&C Strategy Consultants stated. “With such strength and innovation, we look forward to seeing what’s next for both Prime100 and Colgate-Palmolive.”
With extensive experience in the consumer goods sector working with both major global corporations and local brands, OC&C Strategy Consultants noted that it has now advised on more than 500 successful private equity transactions in just the past five years, with the sale of music festival promoter Superstruct Entertainment to KKR among the consultancy's recent engagements.
