The CROCI group, Italian dog accessory leader, has bought French firm Canifrance.
Founded in 1946 Canifrance is a historic French pet sector firm specialising in top quality dog and cat collar and lead production, with a very well-known brand – BOBBY – and a wide-ranging and consolidated presence on the French market.
Canifrance has a catalogue of around 4500 products divided up as follows: 40% collars, leads and combs; 25% dog clothing; 20% beds and cushions; 10% carrying bags; 5% dog toys and miscellaneous items.
The firm's annual turnover is around 5 million euros based on the sale of over 600.000 items.
As well as in France, Canifrance is also present in specialist shops and boutiques for dogs and cats in Europe, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.
‘The Canifrance operation was based on a twofold strategy’, explains Dario Croci, the CROCI group's founder, ’on one hand, our experience in the sector will enable us to reinforce the French brand’s presence and sales in its traditional retail markets. On the other, we will be able to use the French firm's distribution network to promote and sell CROCI products in France.’
The acquisition is a further step in the CROCI group’s internationalisation which began in 2010 with the acquisition of German Amtra and continued in 2019 with the opening of a branch in China.
CROCI ended 2020 with a turnover of €36 million. The acquisition, together with global sales increases, means that the Varese based group forecasts increasing its turnover to €48 million this year (+33%)
