Coles set to expand its empire and buy Australia's biggest pet care company in huge $4billion deal

Published: 02:00, 2 July 2026 | Updated: 02:29, 2 July 2026 Coles is set to buy Australia's biggest pet care company in a deal worth nearly $4billion.  The supermarket giant is closing in on a deal to snap up Greencross Pet Wellness Company, the owner of Petbarn, City Farmers and Greencross Vets. It has 267 retail stores, 160 vet clinics and 24 animal hospitals. 'As one of Australia's leading retailers, with a strong balance sheet and debt capacity, Coles regularly assesses strategic opportunities that may complement its existing business and create value for shareholders,' a Coles spokesman said. 'Coles will only pursue an acquisition where it is satisfied that the transaction is strategically compelling and capable of delivering attractive shareholder returns. 'Discussions remain incomplete and there is no certainty that a transaction will proceed.' The deal was first flagged almost a year ago when Coles approached Greencross owner TPG, according to The Australian Financial Review, with TPG understood to be seeking about $4 billion. If it goes ahead, it would be the first big move for the supermarket group outside the grocery and liquor sector and chief executive Leah Weckert's first major coup with the business.  Coles is set to buy Australia's biggest pet care company in a deal worth nearly $4billion (stock image) The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.