Welcome to Swedencare and the amazing world of animal-health products. Today, Swedencare has established itself in all major markets as an innovative and reliable pet health company. But just as many other fantastic innovations, our story began with a fascinating and accidental discovery and a curious scientist.
The story of Swedencare begins in the 1970s, when Swedish dentist Dr. Sune Wikner discovered that one of his patients, who had previously suffered from chronic tartar formation, suddenly display greatly improved oral health. After some investigation, the dentist realized it was something in the patient's diet that was keeping the tartar at bay - a certain type of seaweed that was consumed by his patient on a regular basis.
Due to different circumstances, it was not until twenty years later that the curious link between the seaweed and oral health was further explored. In 1999 Dr.Sune Wikner and colleague-to-be Roland Fastberg came across a dog whose teeth appeared to have been positively affected by a pet food containing the very same seaweed.
Sune Wikner and Roland Fastberg created the company Swedencare, and together with veterinarians and dentists they conducted a number of pilot studies in human and pets in Sweden. For many years, we built the business around our product family in dental health, ProDen PlaqueOff®. With ProDen PlaqueOff®'s strong brand and long market presence, we have succeeded in building a global distribution network on all continents, this in a fragmented and very local-based market.
2014 was an important and eventful year in Swedencare's history as this was the year when the founders sold the company and Håkan Lagerberg, Håkan Svanberg and Johan Bergdahl took over - Håkan L as CEO and Håkan S and Johan as members of the board together with a professional chairman. Together they developed a new business plan which led to a dramatic increase in sales and improved margins. In 2015, the three largest distributors for ProDen PlaqueOff® were acquired - France, UK and USA. A successful IPO in 2016 provided capital which made it possible to be an active part in the consolidation of the industry. Already in the same year, Biodistra® and NutriScience were acquired.
In 2019, work began on both broadening the product portfolio and increasing our presence in the veterinary and digital sales channels. We laid the foundation for an active acquisition strategy, which in 2020 resulted in the acquisition of four prominent companies with several strong brands - Stratford®, Animal Pharmaceuticals®, and nutravet®. The acquisitions significantly strengthened our presence in the veterinary and digital channels, as well as our position in North America, the largest pet market in the world.
In 2021, we took a big leap towards our vision through the acquisitions of Pet MD Brands, a state-of-the-art company in online sales, Vetio, the leading Animal Health CDMO and FAV a business to consumer (B2C) logistics company focused on home delivery and fulfillment services for the pet industry, in North America. With Vetio we take charge of our supply chain and in-house production as well as gain direct access to drug development which creates a wider product offering and know-how while significantly scaling up our presence in North America.
In 2022 we moved closer to our goal to become a leading global pet healthcare group by acquiring NaturVet and Innovet. Through the acquisition of NaturVet, we get a broad, well-known and appreciated product portfolio as well as a high-quality product facility that can be considered a leader in soft chews. Innovet provides a wider know-how of science-based product development in the premium segment. At the same time, we can contribute to the acceleration of Innovet's internationalization. With a strong acquisition strategy, a wider product portfolio, an expanded customer base, and a great team we are moving in the direction of our vision - to establish ourselves as the leading Pet Life Science company in the world.
In 2024, Swedencare continued its growth through the strategic acquisition of MedVant Inc., a key player in the Canadian veterinary market, along with brand acquisitions such as Riley's® Organics, Vet Worthy, and Healthy Solutions for Pets. We also strengthened our global presence by listing on the OTCQX Market, enhancing the accessibility and trading of our shares in North America, our largest market. By leveraging synergies across our brands and shared research, we developed innovative solutions that strengthened our position in pet healthcare.
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