Pet shops network owner Petz asks for ipo registration

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - The Pet Center, which has the pet product network Petz, on Wednesday filed a request for registration for initial stock offering (IPO). The operation, which involves primary and secondary stock offerings, will be coordinated by Itaú BBA, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan and BTG Pactual, according to the preliminary prospectus of the operation. U.S. private equity fund manager Warburg Pincus, with 55% of the deal, and Petz founder Sergio Zimerman, with another 45%, will be sellers in the company's secondary stock offering. The company said it will use primary supply resources -- new shares, the company's cash-to-store and hospital and digital technology resources. The group founded in 2002 and presented itself as the most comprehensive pet solutions platform in the country, with 105 stores in 12 States, had net revenue of R$ 986 million in 2019, an increase of 28.4% over the previous year. Ebitda jumped 130% last year to R$ 191.1 million, but net income fell 24 percent to 23.6 million reais. In the document, the company states that Brazil is the fourth market in the world of product for pets, moving about 23.5 billion reais per year.