North Yorkshire-based Inspired Pet Nutrition (IPN) has entered into an exclusivity agreement with Eurazeo SE for the acquisition of Ultra Premium Direct (UPD), a French direct-to-consumer pet food company.
The transaction, subject to customary clearances and closing conditions, will mark IPN’s second acquisition in France, having announced the acquisition of Sopral last month.
UPD’s factory-to-consumer model, powered by a data-driven e-commerce platform and subscription service, enables direct delivery of grain-free, natural pet food tailored to carnivorous diets. Complementing its digital success, UPD has expanded into a profitable mono-brand store network, accelerating its reach to offline customers and supporting its European growth ambitions.
Arthur van Benthem, CEO of IPN, said: “UPD has delivered impressive growth in both sales and profitability and represents a strong strategic addition to IPN. It brings with it a sophisticated, proven e-commerce platform with significant international growth potential, a rapidly expanding mono-brand store network, and another outstanding brand to our portfolio.
“The business is highly complementary to both IPN and Sopral. By combining UPD’s direct-to-consumer strengths with Sopral’s extensive manufacturing capabilities and IPN’s broader network and customer base, we unlock powerful opportunities to accelerate our ambitious growth plans across Europe. We look forward to working with our expanding team to realise this potential.”
Sophie Wincker, CEO of Ultra Premium Direct, said: “We are delighted to be joining forces with the IPN team. In recent years, we have built a unique platform that successfully combines product finishing and packing operations, logistics and ecommerce capabilities to build a loyal customer base across France.
“We have a clear roadmap to build on these successes to diversify and grow our business. IPN’s expertise, strength and capabilities, including Sopral’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in France, will allow us all to accelerate these plans.”
