Authority Brands Acquires Woofie’s and Launches Emerging Brands Initiative

COLUMBIA, Md. — Authority Brands announced today the purchase of Woofie’s, a Virginia-based pet care franchise. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition marks the 10^th brand addition for Authority Brands since October 2018, with Woofie’s representing the company’s 12^th brand in its home service portfolio.

Co-founded by Amy Reed and Leslie Barron in 2004 in Ashburn, VA., Woofie’s is the only mobile franchise in the professional pet care industry to offer the combined services of pet sitting, dog walking and mobile pet spa services. Woofie’s began franchising in 2018 and currently has four locations operating in Virginia.

Authority Brands’ acquisition of Woofie’s marks the launch of the company’s incubator for emerging brands within the home services sector. The incubator is designed to leverage the company’s in-depth home services experience to accelerate growth and development of smaller-scale franchise concepts that have a proven system and strong management.

“Woofie’s is a great addition to the Authority Brands’ portfolio as Amy and Leslie have built a strong brand with a passionate following,” said Rob Weddle, Chief Executive Officer, Authority Brands. “Additionally, we’re excited to leverage our extensive home services experience to fuel Woofie’s expansion as well as many other emerging service brands. The launch of this initiative allows our Authority Brands’ leadership to follow their passion – helping and guiding brands with great potential. We look forward to contributing to Woofie’s future success and identifying others in the coming months and years.”

Companies under the Authority Brands umbrella include leading home service brands The Cleaning Authority, Homewatch CareGivers, America’s Swimming Pool Company, Mosquito Squad, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, Mister Sparky, One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning, Monster Tree Service, STOP Restoration, DoodyCalls, and Color World Housepainting. They operate across the residential cleaning, at-home care, swimming pool repair and maintenance, pest control services, plumbing, electrical and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (“HVAC”), tree care, restoration, pet waste removal, and painting sectors, respectively. Authority Brands supports individual franchisee growth by providing strong marketing, technology and operational tools and resources.

“With the launch of Authority Brands’ incubator, we are seeking innovative emerging concepts eager to leverage Authority Brands’ expertise in building home service brands. We were impressed with Amy and Leslie’s leadership and know they are a great fit for our new incubator program. Amy and Leslie have built a company and culture that has tremendous potential, and we are excited to help them expand exponentially,” said Ashish Karandikar, Board of Directors member of Authority Brands’ parent company and Partner at Apax.

“When we launched Woofie’s in 2004, we did so to share our passion and love for pets in our local community. Now as a member of the Authority Brands family, we are excited to bring our leading pet care services to many more communities and pet lovers. The resources and experience that Rob and his team bring to Woofie’s are immense and we can’t wait to grow our brand together,” said Amy Reed, Co-founder, Woofie’s.