The owners of Belgian pet care chain Tom&Co are looking to sell (part of) their chain, in order to enable it to grow further internationally.

With 175 stores and a turnover of 241 million euros, Tom&Co is market leader in Belgium in sales of pet food and pet care items. The retailer’s turnover was pushed upwards 15 % by the Covid lockdowns, when a large number of Belgians adopted or bought a pet.

CEO Thierry Le Grelle and Lionel Desclée bought the chain in 2016 from supermarket chain Delhaize, and took Philippe Dechamps on board three years later. The three are now looking for a new financial partner to support further growth, Belgian business newspaper De Tijd writes. The chain wants to become European market leader, but currently the chain only has stores in Belgium and France (42).

Pet care currently is a very interesting sector for investors: only last month, two funds paid 3.4 billion euros for German specialist Zooplus.