One of the country’s largest pet food manufacturers has a new owner, after Denmark’s BHJ bested the ASX-listed Ridley Corporation in the auction for Staughton Group.

The transaction shows that pets and vets – one of the hottest sectors for deals last year – are still big drawcards, with BHJ paying just north of $100 million for Staughton. The company, which is headquartered near Albury, NSW, owns Cool Off, a producer of raw pet food and aggregator of offal from abattoirs, as well as Murray River Pet Food, which makes dry foods and sells it under its own brand and under private labels.