After almost a year and a half, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade) gave the green light to the merger of Petz and Cobasi, creating a giant with revenues of R$ 7 billion, more than 480 stores, and a physical and digital presence in almost the entire country.
The approval, however, came with remedies and includes the mandatory sale of 26 stores in São Paulo, in addition to a package of behavioral obligations, which will be closely monitored by the regulatory body.
In an interview with NeoFeed , the CEO of Petz said he is comfortable with the agreement, but added: "Ideally, the opinion of the General Superintendence of Cade (which recommended the merger without remedies) would have been maintained," said Zimerman. "We understand that the digital market has full competition."
He also stated that he is now rushing to close the deal by January 2nd and that the negotiated terms will not change. Check out the main excerpts, taken while he was boarding in Brasília, returning to São Paulo.
How did you feel about the approval from CADE?
It took a year and a half (to approve the merger with Cobasi). The process dragged on and took longer than we expected. In my opinion, this was a case that deserved approval without remedies. But, given the opposing force from Petlove, we reached a good agreement. We are comfortable with the agreement we made. But ideally, the opinion of the General Superintendence of Cade (which recommended the merger without remedies) should have been maintained.
Why?
We understand that the digital market is highly competitive. But ultimately, differing opinions are part of the process. We've reached an agreement that's OK with us.
What are the next steps?
The next step is to close the transaction, and we are working to close it by January 2nd.
Are there any changes to the terms of the agreement?
Nothing changes. Each Cobasi investor will receive one Petz share plus an additional amount for each share. It was around R$ 0.60 per share. Adjusted for the Selic rate, it should be around R$ 0.70.
( Editor's note: At the time of the merger announcement, Petz shares were valued at R$7.10 and Petz shareholders would receive R$450 million in cash. Today, Petz shares are trading at R$4.33, up more than 3%).
On the operational side, what will happen after closing ?
We developed a plan with McKinsey and we're going to follow that roadmap. The first step is to see where we can achieve the fastest synergy gains. The two operations will remain independent, as we need to change the CNPJs (Brazilian company tax IDs), which should take more than a year to happen.
