Online pet food firm may sell for £100m

AN entrepreneur could be in line for a huge payout after hiring advisers to work on a £100million sale of his online pet food business.

City sources said the owner of upmarket PetLab – Chris Masanto – is working with adviser Raymond James on a ‘strategic review’, which could lead to a sale.

PetLab specialises in healthy pet foods such as probiotic pet chews, prebiotic dental sticks and salmon bites for dogs. Bankers said a deal might value PetLab at £100million to £150million – and private equity firms may be looking to buy a stake in the firm, which was set up three years ago.

The move follows several similar deals amid growing appetite among pet lovers to feed their pets higher quality food.

In 2020, Nestle bought Lily’s Kitchen while Forthglade was recently sold to Nordic private firm IK Investments.

PetLab did not return calls for comment.