Inspired Pet Nutrition enters sale discussions for French D2C pet food company

PARIS and LONDON — On Aug. 14, French private equity Eurazeo announced it has entered into exclusive discussions with Inspired Pet Nutrition (IPN) regarding the sale of Ultra Premium Direct (UPD), France’s leading direct-to-consumer (DTC) online pet food company. 

Founded in 2013, UPD has established itself as a leading player in the French premium pet food market and is now recognized as the top DTC online brand in the segment, serving more than 285,000 active customers, according to the companies. Leveraging its data-driven approach, the company is now building a powerful omnichannel strategy to further strengthen loyalty and engagement of its veterinarian-developed products. 

Following its recent acquisition of Sopral, IPN’s proposed acquisition of UPD will create a major independent and international branded pet food platform in Europe with leading brands in both the United Kingdom and France supported by world-class digital and manufacturing capabilities, according to IPN.

“UPD has delivered impressive growth in both sales and profitability and represents a strong strategic addition to IPN,” said Arthur van Benthem, chief executive officer of Inspired Pet Nutrition. “It brings with it a sophisticated, proven e-commerce platform with significant international growth potential, a rapidly expanding mono-brand store network, and another outstanding brand to our portfolio. The business is highly complementary to both IPN and Sopral. 

“By combining UPD’s direct-to-consumer strengths with Sopral’s extensive manufacturing capabilities and IPN’s broader network and customer base, we unlock powerful opportunities to accelerate our ambitious growth plans across Europe,” he added. “We look forward to working with our expanding team to realize this potential.”

Since its investment, Eurazeo has actively supported UPD’s founders and management in strengthening its brand positioning, expanding its product range and reinforcing its leadership team. Eurazeo also backed key initiatives in omnichannel strategy, organization and corporate social responsibility (CSR), enabling UPD to scale rapidly and solidify its market leadership with improved profitability, according to the company.

“We are very proud to have supported the founders and management team of UPD through every key stage of their development and to have stood by their side in creating a French leader in the pet food ecosystem,” said Pierre Meignen, head of Eurazeo’s Elevate division. “We thank IPN for the trust they have shown in UPD and are confident that this partnership will enable the company to embark on a promising new phase of growth. This potential transaction perfectly illustrates the Eurazeo strategy to back future European leaders in the lower mid-market buyout space.”

Under the terms of this agreement, Eurazeo and other shareholders would sell their entire stake in UPD. The acquisition is expected to be finalized in the fourth quarter of 2025.

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