AUAU3 União Pet Participações

União Pet Participações S.A., traded on B3 under the ticker AUAU3, is the holding company that brings together the operations of Cobasi, one of the main specialized retail chains for pet products and services in Brazil. The company’s history dates back to 1985, when it was founded in São Paulo by Rames Nassar, initially under the name Cobasi Comércio de Produtos Básicos e Industrializados S.A. At that time, the focus was on selling agricultural products, saddlery equipment, and feed for horses, pigs, and cattle. A structural change in the business took place in the mid-1990s, when the Nassar family identified the growing importance of pets in Brazilian families’ daily lives and repositioned the company toward pet care retail, opening the Villa Lobos store, considered a landmark “megastore” for pet products in the country.

Over the years, Cobasi established itself as a specialized pet retailer, with a store model based on a wide assortment and focus on the shopping experience. From 2010 onward, and more intensely from 2015, the company began a more aggressive phase of geographic expansion, moving from its initial concentration in the city of São Paulo to interior cities and other regions of Brazil. The expansion story includes milestones such as the opening of stores in strategic districts of São Paulo, the first unit outside the capital in Osasco, and entry into the interior in Campinas. In 2020, the chain reached 100 stores, and in 2023 it hit 200 units, highlighting the continuous growth of the business. By the end of 2024, the company operated more than 246 stores in different states, reinforcing its nationwide reach under the corporate structure of União Pet Participações.

União Pet Participações’ business model is centered on the specialized retail segment, with integrated operations between physical stores and digital channels. The company operates a single operating segment, retail sales, which accounts for 100% of consolidated net revenue, totaling R$ 2.74 billion in 2024. The stores sell a wide range of pet products, including dry and wet food in different categories (super premium, premium, standard, and prescription diets), treats, medicines, hygiene items, accessories, toys, and clothing. In addition to merchandise sales, the group’s ecosystem includes the intermediation of services aimed at pet owners, such as bathing, grooming, and veterinary care at partner units, as well as franchised services operated by subsidiaries such as Pet Anjo, focused on bathing and grooming and veterinary clinics.

The operation also relies on private-label brands developed in partnership with domestic and international suppliers, which adds differentiation to União Pet Participações’ portfolio. Among the main exclusive brands are Myhug, focused on hygiene products such as shampoos, pee pads, and therapeutic conditioners; Origens, focused on food, including kibble, treats, and pouches; and Flicks, dedicated to educational and interactive toys. These products are manufactured by partners according to specifications defined by the company, with no in-house industrial production. The private-label strategy aims to expand margins, strengthen customer loyalty, and serve specific niches within the pet market, in line with increasingly demanding and segmented consumption trends.

União Pet Participações has a nationwide geographic presence, with stores distributed across 20 states. The units operate in different formats, from large experiential megastores to smaller neighborhood formats, enabling adaptation to the demand profile of each region. The logistics structure is made up of strategically located distribution centers, including a facility in Barueri (SP) inaugurated in 2023, which increased the assortment available to supply stores and reinforced integration with digital channels. The stores also operate as mini distribution centers, supporting the Ship from Store model, in which part of online orders is shipped directly from retail units, helping reduce delivery times and costs.

In the digital arena, União Pet Participações operates a robust e-commerce platform, with its own website, smartphone app, presence in third-party marketplaces, and partnerships with quick-delivery super apps. This omnichannel approach is complemented by services such as in-store pickup (Pick-up Store) and the aforementioned Ship from Store, integrating physical and online inventories. In 2018, the company launched a subscription platform that allows scheduled deliveries of recurring items such as food and hygiene products. In 2024, this channel had about 370 thousand active subscribers, reinforcing revenue predictability and purchase recurrence. The “Amigo Cobasi” loyalty program, in place for more than 20 years, is another pillar of the relationship model, with more than 5 million registered customers and accounting for over 77% of sales in 2024, through benefits such as points accrual, personalized offers, and content.

The market in which União Pet Participações operates is the Brazilian pet sector, characterized by high fragmentation and competition, with the participation of specialized chains, supermarkets, large generalist retailers, and independent shops. According to industry data cited by the company, the domestic pet market moved around R$ 75.4 billion in 2024, combining food, services, veterinary products, and other categories. With revenue of around R$ 3.2 billion that year, the company estimates that it holds approximately 4.2% of this market, in an environment where large non-specialized retailers still account for a relevant share of sales. The customer base is diversified, and no individual customer accounted for more than 10% of the company’s net revenue in the last three fiscal years, which reduces concentration risk on the demand side.

União Pet Participações’ activities are influenced by a broad set of government regulations, especially related to sanitary, veterinary, and agricultural input areas. As a retailer of veterinary products and animal feed, the company is subject to rules from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA), including requirements for registering establishments that store or sell veterinary products and compliance with specific conditions of packaging, temperature, shelf life, and traceability of the items sold. Products intended for animal feed must be duly registered with MAPA by their manufacturers or importers, and it is the company’s responsibility to ensure that only regularized items are offered. The sale of live animals, fertilizers, seeds, and seedlings is also subject to specific regulations, often enforced at the state level by Departments of Agriculture and Agricultural Defense Agencies, with possible sanctions ranging from warnings and fines to the closure of establishments in case of non-compliance. The company does not itself carry out veterinary medicine activities, which exempts it from registration with the Regional Council of Veterinary Medicine, although franchised service units, where applicable, must be regularized by their respective franchisees.

In this context, União Pet Participações, through the Cobasi brand and its subsidiaries, is positioned as a specialized, omnichannel retail platform focused on the pet market, combining national scale, a broad product assortment, complementary services, and intensive use of loyalty programs and subscriptions to sustain recurring sales. The holding structure listed on B3 via AUAU3 shares consolidates these operations, reflecting a predominantly discretionary retail business, exposed to the trends of pet humanization and the growing demand for convenience and integrated services in the pet segment.