Dog food maker Ollie acquired by Spain’s Agrolimen

By Abigail Summerville

Feb 6 ((Reuters)) - Fresh dog food maker Ollie has been acquired by family-owned Spanish conglomerate Agrolimen, according to a statement from Ollie viewed by Reuters on Friday, in a deal that sources said values the brand at over $600 million.

The acquisition will strengthen Barcelona, Spain-based Agrolimen’s presence in the U.S. pet food market. Ollie makes fresh, human-grade dog food and uses a subscription-based model.

Ollie did not comment on the value of the deal and Agrolimen did not respond to requests for comment about the deal value.

The fresh pet food market has exploded as consumers continue to spend top dollar on their pets. Most like Ollie and The Farmer's Dog are still private but Freshpet FRPT.O went public in 2014.

Agrolimen, owned by the Carulla family, has several pet food investments including Nature’s Variety in the U.S. and Affinity Petcare in Europe. It also owns food company GBFoods, formerly known as Gallina Blanca.

New York City-based Ollie was founded in 2016 by Gabby Slome, Alex Douzet and Randy Jimenez. They brought on investors including Primary Venture Partners, Canaan Partners, Quadrille Capital, ECP Growth and Lerer Hippeau.

There are no changes planned to Ollie’s leadership or operations and it will continue to be headquartered in the U.S. and led by its existing management team, according to the statement.