Central Garden & Pet's (CENT) D&D Buyout to Boost Portfolio

Central Garden & Pet Company CENT remains committed toward strengthening its position via prudent buyouts in the garden and pet segments. Progressing along such lines, the company unveiled that it bought D&D Commodities Ltd. (“D&D”), a supplier of top-quality, premium and nutritional bird feed. This transaction, which concluded on Jun 30, reinforces the buyer’s position in the attractive bird feed realm, thus solidifying its relationship with key retail customers.

D&D, which was established in 1987, produces and sells food for birds, small animals and wildlife under the labels, namely 3D, Wild Delight, Better Bird and L’Avian Plus. Being a pioneer in the bird seed industry, D&D eliminated the entire added chemical preservatives from its formulations, as well as uses bilingual labeling and adds real fruit to the formulas. It operates under three manufacturing plants and sells products to major retailers, farm & feed, garden centers and online.

Markedly, D&D has developed a differentiated seed-cleaning process, which helps the company offer the cleanest and dust-free products in the industry. More than 30 years now, D&D offered nutritional products to several birds, small animals and wildlife, apart from innovating products and adding creative ideas to the market. Hence, the addition of D&D’s bird feed brands to Central Garden & Pet’s core garden category will fuel sales and overall growth.

More on Acquisitions

We note that acquisitions form an important part of Central Garden & Pet’s strategy. The company has been a disciplined buyer in the garden and pet areas, and expanded the business via more than 50 acquisitions since 1992. Through these buyouts, management has been enhancing the manufacturing capabilities, operating synergies, distribution network, economies of scale and market advantages. These integrations are widening the company’s customer base, helping it capture a greater market share.

Over the years, the company has bought several businesses including entering into the live plant and outdoor seat cushion businesses. In the recent past, Central Garden & Pet’s acquired the live goods grower Hopewell Nursery. It also concluded the consolidation of Green Garden Products, which is a key provider of vegetables, seed starters, herb and flower seed packets plus plant nutrients across North America.

Additionally, the acquisition of DoMyOwn.com advances the company’s digital capabilities to deliver a strong omni-channel performance. Meanwhile, the partnership with Profitero enables Central Garden & Pet with a full view of its e-commerce business across eight retail partners. The company is able to utilize Profitero’s digital shelf analytics and share data capabilities to augment its online strategy. This helps strengthening the digital supply chain and product content, thereby optimizing retail media campaigns.

Impressively, the Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) firm’s shares have increased 24.1% over the past year, outperforming the industry’s 14.4% gain.

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