Alpine creates pet investment vehicle and makes first acquisition

Antelope

Alpine plans to invest $100-$150 million (€89-133m) of equity capital to fund the organic and inorganic growth of Antelope.

The plan is to grow the brands it acquires with strong marketing, omni-channel distribution, scalable operational infrastructure, and revenue and cost synergies.

Alpine partners with consumer brands entrepreneur Wendy Wen to launch Antelope: 

“I’m the passionate owner of three pups, Poke, Mochi, and Hoku, and I’m always looking for ways to elongate and elevate their health and quality of life. Our vision for Antelope is to be that one-stop shop for pet owners searching for natural products with healthy, limited ingredients,” said Wendy. “I’m ecstatic to partner with Alpine given their founder-friendly M&A playbook and their PeopleFirst operating philosophy, where they help companies recruit and build world-class teams. I am excited to build a platform that can be the perfect future home for other like-minded founders. Together, we share a belief that success starts with great people and an unwavering commitment to our founders and our pets.”

Bocce’s Bakery

Antelope’s first acquisition is all-natural, limited-ingredient pet treats company, Bocce’s.

Bocce’s Bakery was founded in 2010 by Andrea Tovar after Andrea had a difficult time finding simple, natural treats for her dog, Bocce. Andrea started baking treats in her NYC apartment with the belief that dogs deserve real food.

Currently, it has over 75 SKUs and the treats can be found in retail stores, as well as local independent pet stores and natural grocery chains across the US, like Target, Petsmart, Petco and Shake Shack.

“We started Bocce’s in a small oven and could not be more proud of how our customers have stood behind our mission over the past decade. In considering the next step in Bocce’s growth trajectory, we have found Alpine to be unique in their energy, enthusiasm, and care for our brand,” said Andrea. “We are confident that Alpine and Wendy will continue to build on Bocce’s strong foundation while maintaining Bocce’s quality promise and our commitment to making a positive change in the pet aisle. We are excited about the opportunities that partnering with Alpine will unlock for Bocce’s and look forward to this next chapter in the Bocce’s story.”

Bocce’s will continue to operate under its brand name within Antelope.

Terms of the deal are undisclosed.