Alternative-asset giant Blackstone paid $2.3bn in cash to take Rover private in February 2024, enabling the Seattle-based company to add users by acquiring other pet platforms, including Cat In A Flat last October.
With the Gudog acquisition, Rover is reaching new territory in Ireland and Denmark while adding 20,000 dog sitters and walkers across Europe, according to a statement reviewed by Bloomberg News.
Prior to becoming a target, Gudog was itself a serial dog-sitting platform acquirer, the company’s website shows.
The company was the result of a 2019 merger between Dublin-founded HouseMyDog and Madrid-based Gudog, then its main European rival, which created the largest platform for dog sitters and walkers in Europe.
HouseMyDog, which had been supported by the NDRC, was founded by brothers James and Timothy McElroy in 2015.
“We’ve green-lighted some investments that would’ve been harder to explain to our public market investors,” Aaron Easterly, Rover’s co-founder and CEO, said in an interview. “The capital that Blackstone has, whether it’s equity or debt, is really amazing.”
The strategy seems to be working. Revenue grew 13pc last year to about $264m while gross booking value climbed about 10pc to $1.1bn, Rover said.
That was a turnabout from its fortunes as a public company, when its shares dropped 27pc from the day it began trading after a merger with a blank-check company until Blackstone announced the take-private.
Terms of the Gudog transaction weren’t disclosed in the statement.
Rover plans to expand to more countries in Europe, its fastest-growing region for first-time users, the statement shows. Rover has earmarked about $15m to invest in new markets over the next five years and has its sights set on Switzerland, Finland, Austria, Poland and Belgium.
“Europe has a similar relationship to their pets that the US has,” Easterly said, adding that the “pet-as-a-child dynamic” is crucial for Rover’s success. The geography also presents an opportunity different from the US, where dog adoptions have moderated from their Covid-era records.
Across the globe, Easterly hopes to convince more pet owners who lean on family and friends for pet care stopgaps to see the benefit of a commercial solution.
While on the hunt for more businesses to buy, Rover is also exploring options for connecting pet owners with physical daycares, grooming services and a pet-training offering.
“We just want to go down the list of pet parents’ needs that are not well-serviced by existing options,” Easterly said. “We’re open for business on the M&A front, both in Europe and beyond, and our current services and beyond.”
source