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DXA Investments Sells Stake in Brazil’s ZeeDog

26 February 2018

Brazilian private equity firm DXA Investments has reached an agreement to sell its principal shareholder stake in pet accessory lifestyle brand ZeeDog to the founders of the company Felipe Diz, Thadeu Diz, and Rodrigo Monteiro. 

(Press Release) DXA Investments (DXA), a private equity investment firm headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, announced today an agreement to sell its principal shareholder stake in ZeeDog to the founders of the company, Felipe Diz, Thadeu Diz, and Rodrigo Monteiro. “ZeeDog has been a phenomenal investment for our fund and we believe the company has tremendous growth potential. We thank Felipe, Thadeu and Rodrigo for their unbeatable focus on success, and we believe ZeeDog will continue to be a hugely successful company for years to come”, said DXA CEO Oscar Decotelli.

Prior to this transaction, DXA had arranged a sale of its investment to another private investment firm. The founders of ZeeDog were able to acquire alternate financing and exercised their option to purchase DXA’s investment for the same terms. “We are excited to increase our investment in ZeeDog, believing it can become a global player in the pet accessories market. We thank DXA for their support along the years and guidance in preparing us to thrive in this new chapter”, said Felipe Diz, CEO and Co-founder of ZeeDog.

ZeeDog is a leading lifestyle brand in the pet accessories market with more than 3000 points of direct sale in over 20 countries across the globe. In 2012, DXA had the strategic foresight to select ZeeDog as the first investment of its Excelsior I Fund. Together with this capital investment and the professional expertise of more than 20 advisors at DXA, ZeeDog was able to increase its revenue more than 10 times from 2013 through 2017. Zeedog now derives more than 50% of its direct sales from locations outside Brazil, including two company-owned retail stores in the United States.

This transaction marks the second sale of an equity investment from DXA’s Excelsior I Fund. The terms of the sale of ZeeDog generated a return of more than twelve times the original DXA investment. It confirms the profitable plan of early strategic investment in private companies with high growth potential, assisting and advising each company with management of their growth, then exiting the investment with a sale to a larger fund allowing the company to pursue a path of mature growth. DXA anticipates further ratification of this strategy with future transaction s related to the Excelsior I Fund, and the recently announced Excelsior II Fund.