What a Boise-area company’s deal to sell itself for $1.5B means, and why it matters

A large Boise-area company says it will leave the stock market and go into private hands.

PetIQ, an Eagle veterinary supply company, plans to sell to a New York City private equity firm in a $1.5 billion cash deal to close later this year. A spokesperson for PetIQ said its local headquarters will continue.

The publicly traded company is being acquired by Bansk Group, according to a news release . Bansk Group is a longtime investor in consumer health and wellness businesses.

What shareholders would get

PetIQ shareholders would sell all outstanding common stock to the firm for $31 a share. After the deal is completed, the company would be privately held.

Shares are now traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol PETQ. After the sale was announced Wednesday, the stock, which had closed at $20.57 on Tuesday, soared to $30.51 , a 48% gain. It has continued to trade at about that price since.

The proposed sale values shares at a 41% premium to their 30-day volume-weighted average price before the announcement.

What the sale would do to Eagle HQ, workers

Kara Schafer, vice president of communications at PetIQ, told the Idaho Statesman by email that the company will remain headquartered in Eagle. She said 140 employees work at the Eagle office. Schafer said there will not be any job cuts as a result of the acquisition.

“We started here and are staying here,” Schafer said. “Our mission, core values, business initiatives and one-of-a-kind company culture will remain the same, and that’s extremely important to us.”

PetIQ employed 1,933 full-time and part-time workers as of Dec. 31, according to its latest annual report .

The Idaho founder’s story

PetIQ was founded in 2010 by CEO and chairman Cord Christensen, who was born and raised in Idaho, graduated from Centennial High School in Boise and attended Boise State University. He went on to work at Albertsons and other companies.

It quickly grew from a single office room in Eagle to a company with net sales over $1 billion and employees across the nation in various office locations and manufacturing plants.

“A company you’ve never heard of wants you to stop buying prescription medicines and supplements for your dog or cat from your veterinarian and buy its products in stores instead,” the Statesman wrote in 2017, when PetIQ sold stock for the first time to raise money. “PetIQ, of Eagle, says it is the first and leading seller to retail stores of premium, ‘veterinarian grade’ pet medications and health products that you could buy previously only through veterinarians.”

Sale leaves Idaho with one less public company

The company sold stock to the public for the first time on the Nasdaq Global Market in 2017, making it just the eighth Idaho company at the time whose shares were traded on a major exchange. Trading opened at $16 a share, the Statesman reported.

Taking PetIQ off the market leaves Idaho with one less public company. Among those whose ownership shares are still sold on the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq are two giants, Albertsons and Micron, both of Boise; and multiple smaller Boise-area companies, including IdaCorp (the parent of Idaho Power), Boise Cascade, Lamb Weston and Clearwater Analytics.

Christensen said the acquisition is good news for the company and its stockholders.

“Our growth and success over the last 14 years is a testament to our emphasis on long-term, strategic decision making, while operating our business in the interest of all stakeholders,” he said in the release. “This transaction provides us with an incredible opportunity to continue to execute on our strategy of providing pet parents convenient access to affordable pet health care while accelerating many longer-term growth initiatives.”

The company on Wednesday reported record net sales of $329 million in its latest quarter. PetIQ said it expects the sale to close in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Business and Local Government Editor David Staats contributed.

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