Arbor Investments has completed its acquisition of the Mars Petcare’s Exclusive Brands business. Arbor has relaunched the business under the name Red Collar Pet Foods and will station its headquarters in Franklin, Tennessee. Mars has previously manufactured its private label pet food and treats at five facilities across the US, all of which are included in the acquisition and are now owned and operated by Arbor. The facilities are in Orangeburg, SC, Washington Court House, OH, Miami, OK, Clinton, OK and San Bernardino, CA. The company produces dry dog and cat food including mainstream, premium, meat-first and grain-free, as well as extruded soft meaty treats.

Chris Hamilton will serve as president and CEO of Red Collar, alongside an executive team of Dan Baker, chief operating officer, Marc Simkin, chief financial officer and chief information officer, and Brad Ball, senior vice president of sales and product development. 

"We've spent the last three months working closely with Mars and our new leadership team to efficiently separate the business so we could hit the ground running from day one of ownership,” Hamilton said. “The opportunities ahead are exciting and further reinforce Arbor's enthusiasm to enter the dynamic and growing pet food industry."

Arbor CEO Gregory Purcell expressed enthusiasm about the success of the venture. "From our initial conversations, Mars Petcare has been a phenomenal partner to work with and I couldn't be prouder of how our nimble team at Arbor executed throughout the complicated transaction,” he said. “In less than 100 days from signing, we successfully carved-out a top 15 U.S. pet food manufacturing company from a global food conglomerate."

Ball said the company will focus on private label and co-manufacturing as of now.

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