Better Choice Closes $17.8M Insider-led Financing to Expand Its Rapidly Growing E-Commerce, Direct to Consumer and International Channels
$45M Annual Revenue with Strong Top- and Bottom-line Projected Growth
Better Choice Company (OTCQB: BTTR) (“Better Choice” or “the Company”), an animal health and wellness company, today announced the closing of a $17.8M Series F financing. As part of this financing, Management and Board members funded approximately $11M.
“We are all very excited about reaching this pivotal point for Better Choice’s capital structure,” said Michael Young, Chairman of the Board and a key investor in the Series F financing.
“I have been an active investor in Better Choice for more than two years, having watched it grow into the multi-channel global player it is today. The positive secular trends in the pet sector have never been so strong, and I believe that Better Choice is extremely well positioned in E-Commerce, DTC and Asia to capitalize on the market opportunity.”
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The Company expects to generate revenue of approximately $45M in 2020 with approximately $30M of its sales expected to be generated online, which includes the sale of product to E-Commerce retailers such as Chewy and Amazon as well as Direct-to-Consumer sales through the Company’s online web platform. Direct-to-Consumer sales are expected to represent approximately $13M of sales, with strong recurring revenue. Industry-wide, the online sale of pet products has grown from 22% of sales in 2019, and is expected to exceed 30% of total sales in 2020.
International sales, which are sold through domestic distributors, have grown significantly, and are expected to generate $10M in 2020. The Company anticipates additional growth in 2021 of approximately 50% based on current quarterly run-rate figures in its key target markets, which include China, Korea and Japan.
The capital from the raise will be deployed to significantly reduce the Company’s outstanding term loan which is expected to reduce the Company’s monthly cash interest by approximately $110,000. The increased balance sheet flexibility will allow the Company to invest growth capital into its Direct-to-Consumer sales platform, further international expansion, most notably in Asia, and pursue potential accretive M&A opportunities.
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Young commented further, “Post completion of our Series F financing, Management, Board and Insiders will own more than 50% of the Company on a fully diluted basis. Given our current market cap relative to our peers, who trade as high as 10x+ revenue, vs BTTR at <2x, I am excited about the potential for significant upside as we continue our strong top and bottom-line growth.”
“Our pet business continues to outperform our internal forecasts, and we are excited to be well-positioned in a rapidly evolving macro-economic environment,” said Werner von Pein, Chief Executive Officer. “The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift to online purchasing in the pet sector. With approximately 65% of our sales at Better Choice expected to be generated online, we have been taking advantage of this rapidly changing dynamic by building a recurring customer base. In addition, we expect many positive results within our Asian business, especially as we continue to ramp exports into China.”
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