Private equity giant Blackstone will acquire pet care app Rover in an all-cash deal worth $2.3 billion, the companies announced Wednesday.
Rover shares climbed about 28% on news of the deal, which will pay Rover shareholders $11 per share. Blackstone said that equates to a 61% premium to Rover’s average share price over the past 90 trading days.
The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024, at which point Rover will no longer be a publicly traded company. The agreement includes a 30-day period expiring on December 29 during which Rover and its advisers may seek and negotiate another takeover offer.
Rover’s board of directors approved the acquisition and recommended that Rover shareholders do the same.
Most of Rover’s shares have bounced under $7 each for most of the year before jumping earlier this month on a strong third-quarter earnings report. Rover earned 5 cents per share last quarter, better than the 3 cents per share analysts expected. Sales of $66.2 million in the period also beat Wall Street projections and were up 30% from the same period last year.
“We believe Rover has significant runway for growth as pet owners increasingly place a premium on high-quality care, flexibility and convenience,” said Tushar Gupta, a principal at Blackstone. .
Rover was founded in 2011, connecting pet owners with care providers who provide boarding, in-home pet sitting and dog walking, among other services.
The Seattle-based company says that since its inception through Sept. 30, more than 93 million services have been booked by more than 4 million pet owners with more than 1 million pet care providers paid across the North America and Europe.
Rover shares jumped to $10.90 a share in midday trading and have nearly tripled in price this year.
