BUFF Blue Buffalo Pet Products, Inc. (delisted)

By Annie Gasparro 

The Bishop family says they aren't really the founders of Blue Buffalo pet food -- old Blue is.

Blue, the family dog who died when the brand was in its infancy, inspired his owners to create a more natural pet food with higher-quality ingredients when he faced several bouts of cancer at a young age, they said.

Bill and Jackie Bishop got Blue, a large breed Airedale, in 1993. He would chase anything that moved, they recalled. But at just seven years old, they found a lump on Blue's neck that turned out to be malignant. The family wanted better food for Blue as he underwent chemotherapy.

Two years later, Bill, along with his sons Billy and Chris, formed Blue Buffalo pet food company.

The legacy of Blue "energizes and further fuels our mission," said Chief Executive Officer Billy Bishop. He said people don't own pets -- they are part of the family, and so people want to feed them accordingly.

His father Bill is chairman and his brother Chris heads up advertising. Blue Buffalo is now the best-selling natural pet food brand in America.

Its success prompted an $8 billion takeover offer, announced Friday, from General Mills Inc., which both companies' boards have signed off on.

With products like a braised beef dinner with carrots, wild rice and green beans for dogs and wheat-free salmon pate for cats, Blue Buffalo has capitalized on the humanization of pets. It has also shaken up the industry, stealing market share from more traditional rivals like Nestlé's Purina and pushing those brands to come out with their own natural, higher-quality pet foods.

The Bishop family owns about 8% of Blue Buffalo, according to FactSet, which means it stands to make some $625 million on the General Mills deal.

Blue Buffalo's CEO, who has a cat named Bobby, said the sale will help its brand further expand: "That's General Mills' expertise."

Jeff Harmening, CEO of General Mills, said he is also a dog lover. He got his family's dog, Fox, while working in Switzerland. "We still have to give Fox his commands in French," he said.

Write to Annie Gasparro at annie.gasparro@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 23, 2018 15:28 ET (20:28 GMT)

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