Meridia invests in TA Associates-backed Kipenzi

TA Associates, the company's current majority shareholder, and the founders and minority owners, Javier Osa and Álvaro Gutiérrez, will all retain stakes in the business.

With this capital injection, Meridia aims to accelerate Kipenzi's organic growth and further boost its expansion across all its business lines.

The GP invested in Kipenzi via its Meridia Private Equity I fund, a €105m vehicle launched in 2016 that targets companies based in Spain and generating revenues in the €15-150m bracket. The fund deploys equity tickets of between €15-40m with the aim to boost companies' growth through international expansion, operational change and market consolidation.

Previous funding
Austrian GP Prince Capital Partners acquired Kipenzi in 2008. Subsequently, Corpfin Capital bought a majority stake in the company in May 2012, while Prince Capital retained a minority holding. Corpfin drew capital from its Corpfin Capital Fund III to finance the deal.

TA Associates acquired an 89.4% stake in Kipenzi from Corpfin and Prince Capital in June 2016, while the company's founders retained the remaining minority holding.

Company
Established in 2007, Kipenzi is a pet care specialist that operates 125 pet stores under the brand name Kiwoko, as well as a network of 75 veterinary clinics and 8 veterinary hospitals across Spain and Portugal. The company is headquartered in Madrid, employs 1,300 staff and generated revenues of €140m in 2018.

People
Meridia Capital – David Torralba (partner); Javier Faus (chair).
Kipenzi – Javier Osa, Álvaro Gutiérrez (co-founders).

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• Topics
• Expansion
• Southern Europe
• Consumer
• Spain
• TA Associates