Who Owns Chewy? (PetSmart, Amazon, or Someone Else?)

Chewy is a relative newcomer to the pet focused retail segment, but the company has managed to grow into one of the leading companies in this industry.

This level of success is usually indicative of a company having a bigger company backing it, so we looked into who owns Chewy for this article. Keep reading to see what we found!

Who Owns Chewy In [currentyear]?

Chewy is owned by its shareholders, because it’s a publicly traded company and people can buy stocks in [currentyear]. Beforehand, Chewy was owned by PetSmart and both were under BC Partners, a private equity firm. BC Partners tried to split up PetSmart and Chewy by selling off all shares that the former had in the latter, but couldn’t find investors.

Read on to learn all you need to know about who owns Chewy, including the major shareholders, the company’s history of acquisition, and more!

Who Owns Chewy Stock?

Chewy stock is owned by a large variety of shareholders, because it’s a publicly traded company.

Out of nearly 415 million total shares in Chewy, more than 314 million of them are owned by BC Partners.

According to the Nasdaq, the major shareholders in Chewy are the following:

  1. BC Partners – 314 million shares
  2. Baillie Gifford & Co – 13.3 million shares
  3. Morgan Stanley – 8.96 million shares
  4. FMR LLC – 7.7 million shares
  5. Brown Advisory – 7.07 million shares
  6. Vanguard Group – 6.9 million shares
  7. Macquarie Group – 4.86 million shares
  8. Wellington Management Group – 4.5 million shares
  9. Goldman Sachs – 3.12 million shares
  10. Ameriprise Financial – 2.26 million shares
  11. BlackRock – 2.2 million shares
  12. JPMorgan Chase – 2.097 million shares
  13. Neuberger Berman Group – 1.978 million shares
  14. American Century – 1.912 million shares
  15. Blair William & Co – 1.846 million shares

Because it’s traded on the stock market, you can also buy Chewy stock for yourself to either hold or sell off later.

When Was Chewy Purchased?

Chewy was bought in 2017 by PetSmart for $3.35 billion in an all cash deal. At the time, this transaction was the biggest purchase of an online business in history.

Because PetSmart is owned by private equity firm BC Partners, Chewy’s acquisition put the company under its umbrella, but was allowed to continue operating as usual.

Did Petco Buy Chewy?

Did Petco Buy Chewy?

Petco did not buy Chewy but, according to some reports we’ve found, the company tried to at some point before PetSmart did it.

As per these reports, both PetSmart and Petco made offers to buy Chewy, but Petco’s was rejected because the company would have paid for it in part using stock.

It would have also taken over the company’s operations, whereas PetSmart offered all cash, and would allow Chewy to keep running as it wanted.

Does Amazon Own Chewy?

Amazon does not own Chewy. Chewy is owned by its shareholders, the largest of which is private equity firm BC Partners.

Amazon and Chewy are separate companies and direct competitors because of similar products that they carry, and the fact that both are purely online businesses.

Amazon owns Wag, a brand of pet food and essentials.

Is Chewy Owned by Walmart?

Chewy is not owned by Walmart, and the two are actually direct competitors, because Walmart also sells a large variety of pet supplies. Walmart owns Jet and Sam’s Club.

Does Ryan Cohen Still Own Chewy?

Ryan Cohen does not own Chewy, and is actually no longer with the company.

Cohen is one of Chewy’s founders, and was the CEO until leaving the company in 2018. Ryan Cohen is currently the chairman of GameStop.

Does Mars Own Chewy?

Mars does not own Chewy. Chewy is owned by its shareholders because it’s a public company, while Mars is a privately owned company under the control of the Mars family.

Why Did PetSmart Buy Chewy?

PetSmart bought Chewy because the company was emerging as a leader in the online pet focused retail segment, and it wanted to take advantage of this.

PetSmart has its own website, and so does its major competitors like Petco, but Chewy was growing at a pace that showed it would be a serious threat in the future.

According to the Wall Street Journal, PetSmart’s offer for Chewy specified that it would be allowed to keep running as it always had, in order to maintain this growth despite having been acquired.

Why Did PetSmart Sell Chewy?

In 2020, PetSmart announced that it wanted to sell Chewy a few years after acquiring it in order to raise more capital for operations, including paying off debts.

To know more about Chewy, you can also read our posts on what is Chewy, Petco vs Chewy, and does Petco own Chewy.

Conclusion

Chewy is owned by its shareholders, the largest of which is BC Partners. BC Partners is a private equity firm that also owns PetSmart. Other companies that own Chewy stock include BlackRock, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs.

PetSmart bought Chewy in 2017 for $3.35 billion because it was experiencing very fast growth in the pet e-commerce segment.

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Marques Thomas

Marques Thomas graduated with a MBA in 2011. Since then, Marques has worked in the retail and consumer service industry as a manager, advisor, and marketer. Marques is also the head writer and founder of QuerySprout.com.

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