Summit Deal Gives Animal Supply East Coast Reach

With yesterday’s merger of distributors Animal Supply Co. of Federal Way, Wash., and Summit Pet of Greensboro, N.C., the big question is, "Who’s next to join Animal Supply and its apparent quest for a national footprint?"

Animal Supply served the northern portions of California and Nevada prior to the Zeus deal.

With three deals done in three months (Lone Star in November and Zeus’s Western business in December), Animal Supply is clearly and aggressively approaching national coverage. Two more deals (one in the Midwest and the other in the Northeast) could pretty much finish the quest.

The Summit deal expands Animal Supply’s reach into at least 30 states and to the East Coast for the first time. The Summit deal will see Animal Supply reach the Carolinas, the Virginias, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Delaware, Maryland, DC, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

“Summit Pet is a best-in-class operator that has built a 25 year reputation of excellent customer and vendor service,” said Randy Reber, Chairman of Animal Supply. “Similar to our recent partnership with Lone Star, Summit’s common culture and unwavering commitment to excellence in the pet specialty market makes this a truly synergistic combination with Animal Supply.”

Under the deal, Summit will continue operate as Summit Pet and be led by its current management team, and Summit president Jay Joyce and senior vice president Mike Copeland, as well as all managing partners, will become equity investors in Animal Supply. Joyce will serve on Animal Supply’s board of directors.

The combined company will represent more than 300 manufacturers and deliver to more than 5,000 pet stores, the companies reported.

“We believe in Animal Supply’s long-term vision of building the preeminent pet products distributor in North America and are excited to be their partner to help in creating it,” Joyce said. “We have always had great respect for the operating philosophy and progressive visions of both Animal Supply and Lone Star. This partnership enables us to provide even better service and coverage for our customers and vendors alike.”

At the current rate of acquisitions, that long-term vision might be realized by Global Pet Expo, Feb. 20-22, 2013, in Orlando, Fla.

Possible attractive partners would include General Pet, RFG Distributing or Wilson Pet in the Midwest and perhaps Pet Food Experts in the Northeast.

Another question is how much pressure does Animal Supply’s deals put on larger distributors Phillips and Royal to expand to the West Coast.

Long a regional game with multiple key players, is pet product distribution changing to a national game, with only two or three major players likely to emerge? Will distributors now require national territories or increasingly specialized niches to stay viable?