Pet Industry News
The deals, launches, and strategic moves behind the brands and operators shaping the industry.
Escalade Buys ASL Solutions, Betting on Pet Hard Goods
Escalade, the public sporting goods company behind Goalrilla and STIGA, has acquired ASL Solutions, a founder-owned manufacturer of insulated dog and cat houses. The deal, terms undisclosed, hands Escalade a rotational molding capability it didn't have before and marks its first move into pet hard goods.
BARK's $40M Buyback Outruns Its Cash Flow
BARK's fiscal 2026 revenue fell 18.5% as it deliberately cut marketing to protect profitability, holding a second straight year of positive adjusted EBITDA. The company exited kibble, went debt-free, and authorized a $40 million buyback despite burning $26.6 million in free cash flow. Fiscal 2027 guidance bets a smaller, higher-margin business can deliver up to $10 million in adjusted EBITDA.
First Generic Pimobendan Breaks Vetmedin's 19-Year Monopoly
Cronus Pharma began selling the first FDA-approved generic of Boehringer Ingelheim's Vetmedin on June 9, ending nearly two decades of single-source pricing on pimobendan. For clinics and distributors, a daily-dose canine cardiac staple just became a two-source category, and Boehringer's response signals where the next generic battle in animal health lands.
ReadiVet Folds Into BlueSky, and Mobile Vet's Math Surfaces
BlueSky At-Home Veterinary Care is absorbing ReadiVet, retiring the brand and folding its Dallas book into BlueSky's. The deal's framing — building the first "financially healthy" national mobile vet service — is the tell that the category's economics force consolidation.
Open Farm Enters PetSmart, and the Premium-vs-Indie Tradeoff Gets Real
Open Farm is bringing its full premium lineup to nearly 1,700 PetSmart stores, lifting its footprint past 9,500 North American doors. The reach is real, but so is the risk: the independent pet retailers that built the brand may not stay loyal once it goes mass.
Spot & Tango Doubles UnKibble Capacity With a Second $20M Bet on Owned Manufacturing
Spot & Tango announced a $20M+ expansion of its Allentown, Pennsylvania manufacturing facility on June 2, doubling production capacity for its best-selling UnKibble product and adding 50 jobs. The expansion brings total invested capital in the owned plant to north of $40M and locks in a vertically integrated bet that runs counter to the co-manufacturing playbook most DTC fresh pet food brands follow.
Fi Just Boxed Itself Into a Two-Way Pet GPS Race in Europe
Fi expanded its connected pet collar to a 38-country footprint on June 2, adding nine new European paid markets including Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands. The expansion lands three weeks after Bending Spoons closed its acquisition of Tractive — Fi's largest global competitor — in a deal valued in the high three-digit millions of euros. The U.S.-native pet GPS category is now in a three-way international race with Tractive and Life360.