Focus on four-legged friends: Asia's A$1bn pet food deal

As part of a two-dog household, I'm now well aware of how possible it is to pamper your furry friends in all aspects of their lives. There is literally no limit to how much it is possible to spend on food, toys, accessories and clothing for your pets, who are increasingly seen by many people as fully-fledged members of their families.

In the UK, where I live, we have long been seen as a nation of animal lovers and now it would appear that three Asian companies are confident this trend will spread throughout the Asia Pacific region, with a USD 1bn acquisition announced today. Hosen Capital, Chinese agricultural group New Hope and Temasek, Singapore's state investment company, have announced they are to acquire the Real Pet Food Company, an Australian pet food manufacturer, from Quadrant, its private equity owner since 2015.

The Real Pet Food Company specialises in providing pet food made from "fresh ingredients and using fresh methods" and prides itself on providing food for our four-legged friends that is both tasty and healthy. A Euromonitor study on the increase in the growth of sales of pet care products in the last five years has shown that the Asia Pacific region (excluding Japan) has the greatest percentage increase globally, as well as an annual market worth USD 6.5bn, and can be linked to the increasing prosperity of the middle class in this region, for whom pet ownership is becoming more attractive.

As 2018 is the Year of the Dog in the Chinese Zodiac and the word associated with this year is action, I'm sure there will be a big push to get this deal completed quickly and for the overseas expansion into China, cited as one of the reasons behind the deal, to start soon into the Chinese New Year.