Seattle-based pet services marketplace Rover Group Inc. is exploring new services after closing its $2.3 billion all-cash sale to private equity firm Blackstone on Tuesday.
Co-founder and CEO Aaron Easterly said new pet services had been a lower priority in the past and suggested mergers and acquisitions could play a role in that shift. He said Rover could be more open to acquisitions now, as Blackstone has deep expertise in that field.
"That could include pet adoption. That could include in-person professional training. That could include grooming. That could include physical-premise daycare," Easterly said. "We don't really have limits on what we might look at as long as it's within the pet services space."
Rover currently offers six services, including a nascent virtual dog training service.
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Rover, founded in 2011, connects pet owners with services like walking and sitting, and it offers Rover-branded leashes. Rover generated $66.2 million in revenue during the third quarter, up from $50.9 million during the same period in 2022. The company went public in 2021 through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, but the Blackstone deal takes Rover off the Nasdaq.
Rover and Blackstone, which is headquartered in New York City, first announced the deal in November. The firm has more than $1 trillion in assets under management. Its private equity arm has $139 billion in assets under management and 126 portfolio companies, including the dating app Bumble and the genealogy company Ancestry.
Easterly said Rover is growing in a field that is tech-backward and fragmented and sees the company's path to success as a decades-long journey.
Addressing the Blackstone deal, he noted that company leaders are obligated to do what's best financially for Rover. If a firm makes an acquisition offer that is better than what the company will likely achieve staying public, Easterly said, it's necessary to say yes. He said Blackstone has a roughly five-year view for its portfolio companies, which made the firm an appealing choice.
Rover headquarters in Seattle, Washington
Rover is likely to maintain its downtown Seattle office space, Easterly said, and it's unlikely there will be wholesale changes to the company's management team. The company has about 500 employees, and although some roles that focused on public company obligations could be let go, Rover plans to grow.
"We are hiring, and we expect to continue hiring," Easterly said. "We expect the hiring to dwarf any impacted roles that were tied to public company compliance."
