Articles &
Resources
Carol Frank has been a columnist for many pet industry publications over the years including APPA, Pet Business, Pet Age, and Pet Product News. This page contains many of the articles she has written in date order as well as articles from guest contributors.
PET INDUSTRY M&A UPDATE: 2025 IN REVIEW + WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2026
Insights from 6 Pet Industry Acquirers on What’s Hot, What’s Not, and What’s NextBy Carol Frank 2025 was a reset year for pet industry mergers and acquisitions. After the post-pandemic high of 2021–2022, the market cooled. But even as deal flow slowed, investor appetite for quality pet businesses...
If You Plan to Sell Someday, Start Acting Like It Today: Exit Planning Is Just Smart Business Strategy
Most business owners overestimate what their company is worth. That’s not an opinion—it’s a data-backed reality. And if you’re planning to sell someday, that overconfidence can be expensive.
The good news? Exit planning doesn’t just help you prepare for a sale. It’s a smart strategy for building a stronger, more resilient business today.
Why Now Might Not Be the Right Time to Sell Your Pet Company
For the first time in my 16 years advising pet industry business owners on mergers and acquisitions, I stood in front of my 2025 Global Pet Expo audience and said something I never expected to:
A Seller Blind Spot
In our many years in M&A, we have learned (sometimes the hard way!) that clients who really understand how they will be “graded” during a sale process prior to undergoing one typically have better outcomes. Why? Because having that knowledge in advance gave them the time to...
The 2023 Mid-Year state of Pet Industry M&A – What’s Changed, What Hasn’t
There has been a noticeable slowdown in pet M&A activity over the last year, primarily due to the combination of interest rate hikes and concern about a recession. In particular, given their dependence on leverage and loan availability, private equity activity dropped significantly in...
What’s Driving the Flurry of Private Equity-backed Mergers & Acquisitions?
2021 was a record year for M&A, which I’m sure no one would have predicted at the start of the pandemic. Driving this activity was low interest rates, a huge amount of capital that needed to be deployed by investors, and incredibly robust tailwinds for the pet industry. One increasing trend is...
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What’s Driving the Flurry of Private Equity-backed Mergers & Acquisitions?
2021 was a record year for M&A, which I’m sure no one would have predicted at the start of the pandemic. Driving this activity was low interest rates, a huge amount of capital that needed to be deployed by investors, and incredibly robust tailwinds for the pet industry. One increasing trend is private equity’s interest in acquiring pet companies and building them over time into much larger...
What is Behind the Robust Pet Industry Acquisition Activity….and Will It Continue?
“We are having our best year ever.” “We can’t keep enough product in stock to satisfy demand.” “We just had another record month.” These are among the many quotes I hear from pet companies across all spectrums of our industry. While COVID has wreaked havoc on the health and finances of many Americans, it has been a boon to the pet industry, proving once more that our wonderful...
Access to Capital: How does a small but growing pet company find capital?
One of the most common questions that I get as an M&A specialist in the pet industry is “How can I find capital to grow my business?” Growing a pet products company takes access to cash as you build your inventory and accounts receivable. Ironically, the faster you are growing, the more capital you will need since rarely do your customers pay before your supplier’s bill comes due! While...
The Pet Industry is on Fire: What’s the explosive growth this market also their owners?
Why this may be the best time to sell your company! In this very strange time we are all in, I have made a point to look for silver linings from this pandemic--even when many people are without jobs, are immersed in the CARES Act details and may have more time What an amazing industry we are part of right now! Who would have guessed 6 months ago that most pet companies would be realizing record...
Why Exit Planning Could Be the Project You Tackle During the Pandemic
In this very strange time we are all in, I have made a point to look for silver linings from this pandemic--even when many people are without jobs, are immersed in the CARES Act details and may have more time on their hands than they typically do. One silver lining I have seen this year is that business people everywhere are tackling big projects that may have been on the back burner when the...
A Little Good News Among the Craziness
The Pet Industry is Surviving and Even Thriving Are you getting tired of looking at the news every morning and seeing nothing but doom, gloom, and political turmoil? I guess the old adage that “bad news sells” is in full swing right now. Well, that does not apply to this column, and I am happy to share some positive news about our beloved pet industry. I’ve been chatting with some of my...
A Little Extra Time On Your Hands?
The Top Five Things you can do NOW to increase the value of your business. We are fortunate to make our living in an “essential” industry and I truly believe that our businesses will not only survive this crisis, but thrive on the back end because people have experienced the true emotional joy and connection that pets provide during difficult times. However, during this extraordinarily...
The State of the M&A Markets: What will 2020 bring?
Recently I had the pleasure of speaking about pet industry M&A in front of a 100 or so of my pet industry colleagues at the 2020 Pet Summit in San Diego. While we covered a great deal of ground during my one-hour presentation, one of the main focuses was on whether the robust deal activity and multiples would continue its’ 10-year hot streak. I am happy to say that the answer is “yes – at...
How to Successfully Move Production back to the U.S from China
An interview with Starmark Pet Product’s Keith Benson In my daily interactions with pet company CEO’s and owners, I often hear them remark about their desire to make more of their products in the U.S., but then follow that on with the difficulties and challenges of actually doing so. “Made in the U.S.A” has become an increasingly popular slogan over the last several years, but how...
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