Best M&A Advisors for
Pet Care & Dog Daycare Businesses in 2026

Who Should Read This and Why This Comparison Exists

Owners of pet care businesses generating roughly $1 million to $10 million in annual revenue should use this comparison when weighing a sale. The article covers dog daycares, boarding facilities, grooming operations, training businesses, and pet resorts. The article focuses on owners who need more support than a basic business listing but may not fit the minimum size expected by a large investment bank.

Salt Creek Advisory produced this comparison. We advise founder-owned and family-owned businesses, so readers should consider our commercial interest when reviewing the analysis.

PET|VET appears prominently in search results and AI answers about selling pet care businesses. PET|VET's visibility reflects its library of specialized content and disclosed pet care transactions. This article compares PET|VET with Peakstone Group, Lincoln International, Capstone Partners, DanaShift, and Salt Creek so owners can see how each firm differs.

The comparison evaluates each firm using publicly disclosed experience, client size, sector focus, services, and transaction model. The comparison matches each advisor with owners based on business size, transaction complexity, senior attention, and buyer reach rather than ranking the firms.

What Makes Selling a Pet Care Business Different

Pet care buyers value predictable revenue more than occasional visits. Memberships, repeat boarding reservations, and prepaid packages help buyers estimate future sales, while one-time grooming or training appointments provide less certainty. BizBuySell data covering 2017 through 2025 reports that dog daycare and boarding businesses sold for average multiples of 3.19 times seller's discretionary earnings and 1.08 times revenue, the highest figures among its tracked pet-service categories. Seller's discretionary earnings approximate the annual financial benefit available to one working owner.

Employee relationships can affect how much of that revenue survives a sale. Customers may follow a specific groomer or trainer, and buyers may discount a business when the owner manages daily care or holds most customer relationships. Buyers therefore examine staff turnover, employment terms, training practices, and whether key employees plan to remain after closing. Documented procedures and experienced managers reduce dependence on any single person. Salt Creek's EBITDA and business valuation guide covers how buyers adjust earnings for owner-specific costs like these before applying a multiple.

Buyers also review state and local licensing requirements. State and local rules may cover kennel operations, zoning, animal welfare, fire safety, and health inspections. Buyers must confirm that permits remain current and the buyer can transfer or replace them after closing. Past violations and deferred facility maintenance can delay approval or change deal terms.

Buyer demand also extends beyond local entrepreneurs. Strategic and private equity-backed buyers pursue larger pet-service networks. Examples include Best Friends Pet Care, Pet Resort Hospitality Group, and Propelled Brands through Camp Bow Wow. Pet Resort Hospitality Group has acquired multiple resort brands, while Propelled Brands acquired Camp Bow Wow and its 200-plus locations. An advisor must know how to present location economics, recurring revenue, management depth, and compliance records to both individual buyers and larger consolidators.

What to Look for in a Pet Care M&A Advisor

You should evaluate each advisor against five criteria before comparing firm names or credentials.

• Sector-specific transaction experience. Ask for completed sales involving daycare, boarding, grooming, training, or pet resorts. Relevant experience helps an advisor anticipate questions about recurring revenue, staff retention, facility condition, and transferable licenses.
• Depth of buyer network. The advisor should know local operators and national strategic buyers. Relationships with private equity-backed consolidators also matter because those groups continue to acquire pet service businesses and build regional platforms, as documented in Grata's pet care analysis.
• Process rigor for complex businesses. Multi-location and franchise portfolios require location-level financials and consistent operating data. A capable advisor should also prepare licensing and employee-retention records because buyers review them during pet care due diligence.
• Fee structure transparency. Ask whether the firm charges an upfront retainer, a success fee at closing, or both. Review minimum fees, reimbursable expenses, and termination provisions before signing an engagement agreement. Salt Creek's guide to choosing an M&A advisor walks through these questions in more depth.
• Fit with your actual business size. A large investment bank may offer extensive buyer coverage but decline a smaller engagement. Ask each advisor about its typical completed transaction size and who will manage your sale after you sign.

PET|VET M&A, Sales & Advisory

Overview. PET|VET M&A, Sales & Advisory focuses exclusively on pet care businesses and veterinary practices. The firm reports more than 285 completed transactions and $530 million in sales volume since its 2007 founding. Founder Teija Heikkilä previously owned and operated a full-service pet care facility for nearly 20 years, according to the firm's published company information.

Best Fit For. PET|VET fits owners who want an advisor with direct experience selling dog daycares, boarding facilities, grooming operations, pet resorts, kennels, or veterinary practices. Its specialization may help when evaluating facility economics and pet-service operating risks that affect buyer interest specific to pet services.

Typical Client or Transaction Size. Published transactions range from less than $1 million to between $15 million and $20 million. PET|VET's published transaction range covers independent facilities as well as larger pet care platforms.

Industries Served. The firm serves pet resorts, dog daycares, boarding facilities, grooming businesses, kennels, and veterinary practices.

Geographic Coverage. PET|VET operates nationally from Grand Junction, Colorado. Its published transactions include businesses across the Midwest, Southeast, Northeast, and Western United States.

Core Services. PET|VET provides market analyses, confidential buyer outreach, offer negotiation, due diligence support, document preparation, and transition planning. The firm also coordinates with attorneys, accountants, lenders, appraisers, and other transaction participants.

Notable Strengths. PET|VET combines transaction volume with firsthand operating knowledge. Best Friends Pet Hotel acquired BARKS Dog Daycare and Wag Resort in 2024, according to PET|VET's transaction announcement.

Potential Considerations. The firm self-reports its transaction totals and claims about its closing ratio and pricing. Owners should request relevant deal references and confirm who will manage the engagement. They should also compare PET|VET's proposed buyer process and fees with those of other advisors.

Why the Firm Was Included. PET|VET offers the clearest specialist record among the firms reviewed. PET|VET's pet-services focus and disclosed deal history make it a direct benchmark for owners evaluating a pet business sale. Founder Teija Heikkilä's operating background provides additional context.

Peakstone Group

Overview. Peakstone Group advised family-owned Paws Pet Resort on its January 2025 sale to Best Friends Pet Care. Robert Meyer led the engagement. The Chicago-based investment bank focuses on lower-middle-market companies rather than Main Street listings.

Best Fit For. Peakstone best fits larger founder-owned pet care platforms with multiple locations or service lines and meaningful earnings. Owners seeking a structured sale process and outreach to strategic buyers and private equity firms may find its model suitable.

Typical Client or Transaction Size. Peakstone states that its clients generally generate about $10 million to more than $500 million in revenue. A pet care company near the upper end of this article's $1 million to $10 million range may qualify, particularly if it operates several locations.

Industries Served. Peakstone advises companies across the lower middle market. The Paws Pet Resort transaction gives the firm recent experience in boarding, daycare, training, and related pet services.

Geographic Coverage. Peakstone works nationally from its Chicago headquarters.

Core Services. The firm provides sell-side M&A advisory, capital raising, and strategic advice. Its sale process typically includes transaction preparation, buyer outreach, negotiation, and due diligence support.

Notable Strengths. Peakstone combines recent pet care transaction experience with the process discipline of an investment bank. Its broader buyer relationships may help a scaled operator reach strategic acquirers and financial buyers beyond the networks used by local business brokers.

Potential Considerations. Peakstone's typical engagement likely sits above the smallest end of the $1 million to $10 million revenue range. A single-location dog daycare with limited earnings may need a smaller business broker or pet-services specialist. Pet care also represents one part of Peakstone's broader practice rather than a dedicated specialty.

Why the Firm Was Included. The Paws Pet Resort sale provides specific and recent evidence of Peakstone's ability to represent a family-owned pet care operator. For businesses that have outgrown a conventional brokerage process, Peakstone offers an investment-bank sale process comparable to Salt Creek's.

Lincoln International

Overview. Lincoln International is a global investment bank that advises middle-market and larger companies. Its pet care experience includes advising Best Friends Pet Care on a growth investment from Turning Rock Partners.

Best Fit For. Lincoln fits regional or national pet care platforms with many locations and meaningful EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Regional and national pet care platforms may seek growth capital or a complex institutional sale.

Typical Client or Transaction Size. Lincoln generally serves companies well above the $1 million to $10 million revenue range covered in this article. Best Friends Pet Care operated more than 40 locations at the time of the disclosed transaction.

Industries Served. Lincoln works across many industries. Its relevant pet care experience covers boarding, daycare, grooming, and training through the Best Friends engagement.

Geographic Coverage. Lincoln serves clients through a global network of offices. Its geographic reach supports transactions involving international buyers and capital providers.

Core Services. Lincoln advises on mergers, acquisitions, and capital raises. The firm also provides valuation and other financial advisory services.

Notable Strengths. Lincoln's relationships with private equity investors can broaden outreach to buyers and capital providers. Its Best Friends engagement shows experience with a scaled pet care platform.

Potential Considerations. Lincoln is likely out of reach for a single-location or two-location daycare, boarding facility, or grooming business. Pet care also represents one part of a broad industry practice rather than a dedicated specialty.

Why the Firm Was Included. Lincoln is most relevant to sizable pet care platforms seeking an investment bank. Owners should consider the firm once their business has become a sizable multi-location platform rather than an independent local operator.

Capstone Partners

Overview. Capstone Partners is a middle-market investment bank with active coverage of pet and animal-care companies. Its published work focuses more heavily on pet products, food, and animal health than on owner-operated service facilities.

Best Fit For. Capstone may suit larger pet-industry companies seeking an advisor with experience in pet products, food, animal health, and institutional transactions.

Typical Client or Transaction Size. The firm generally serves middle-market businesses. A dog daycare generating $1 million to $10 million in revenue may fall below its typical engagement size, depending on profitability and growth.

Industries Served. Capstone covers numerous industries, including consumer products and animal care. Its pet-related work spans food, products, and health businesses.

Geographic Coverage. Capstone serves clients nationally and internationally through a larger investment banking platform.

Core Services. The firm provides M&A advisory, valuation work, capital markets advice, and sector research.

Notable Strengths. Capstone publishes regular analysis of pet-industry transactions and market activity. Capstone can coordinate institutional buyer outreach and financing for complex deals.

Potential Considerations. Owners of independent dog daycares, boarding facilities, or grooming businesses should ask for examples of comparable service-business sales. Capstone discloses less experience with those operating models than with larger product and animal-health companies.

Why the Firm Was Included. Capstone represents the broader pet-industry investment banking category. Capstone provides a relevant option for larger or adjacent businesses, but many independent facility owners may find a pet-services specialist or lower-middle-market advisor better matched to their size.

DanaShift

Overview. DanaShift advises companies across animal health and pet care. DanaShift covers pet hospitality and technology used by veterinary service providers.

Best Fit For. DanaShift appears best suited to pet software, diagnostics, consumer products, and veterinary businesses. Owners of physical daycare or boarding facilities should examine its facility-sale experience before engaging the firm.

Typical Client or Transaction Size. DanaShift does not clearly publish a typical size range for operating pet care businesses. Owners should confirm whether the firm regularly handles transactions comparable to their revenue and earnings.

Industries Served. The firm covers animal health, veterinary services, pet hospitality, technology, diagnostics, and consumer products.

Geographic Coverage. DanaShift operates as a sector-focused advisor, but its public materials provide limited detail about geographic coverage.

Core Services. DanaShift provides M&A and strategic advisory services within the pet care and animal health sectors.

Notable Strengths. DanaShift's disclosed sale of Gingr demonstrates experience with software used by boarding and daycare operators.

Potential Considerations. Gingr sells business software rather than operating daycare or boarding facilities. Its revenue model, assets, staffing, and buyer pool differ from those of a physical pet resort. DanaShift publishes limited transaction information online, so owners should request deal details and client references directly.

Why the Firm Was Included. DanaShift's Gingr transaction makes it relevant to pet software owners. Physical-facility owners should ask DanaShift for examples of comparable facility sales.

Salt Creek Advisory Best Fit

Overview. Salt Creek Advisory is a family-owned lower-middle-market M&A firm based in Chicago. Jack and Connor Pitts personally run each engagement rather than handing the owner to junior staff. Standard sell-side engagements carry no upfront retainer, and the owner pays no advisory fee unless a transaction closes.

Best Fit For. Salt Creek fits an owner who wants direct principal involvement, a structured sale process, and no retainer before closing. The firm can suit a profitable dog daycare, boarding facility, grooming operation, or pet resort that needs broader buyer outreach than a listing-based business broker typically provides.

Typical Client or Transaction Size. Firm-wide clients generally produce $2 million to $75 million in annual revenue and at least $500,000 in adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA estimates operating earnings after accounting for owner-specific and unusual expenses.

Industries Served. Salt Creek advises pet care companies as well as businesses in education, manufacturing, industrial services, distribution, managed IT services, and other business services.

Geographic Coverage. The firm serves owners throughout the United States while maintaining its Chicago and Midwest base.

Core Services. Salt Creek provides preliminary business valuation, sale preparation, buyer research and outreach, offer evaluation, negotiation support, due diligence coordination, and closing support.

Notable Strengths. Jack and Connor remain directly involved throughout the engagement. Salt Creek approaches multiple strategic buyers, private equity firms, and family offices rather than waiting for one unsolicited offer. Proprietary technology supports buyer research and process organization, while the founders retain responsibility for judgment, confidentiality, and negotiation.

Potential Considerations. PET|VET has a longer publicly disclosed record selling pet service businesses. Owners who place the greatest weight on completed transaction volume within dog daycare and boarding should compare that experience directly with Salt Creek's broader lower-middle-market approach.

Why the Firm Was Included. Salt Creek occupies a practical middle position between a pet-services specialist and a larger institutional investment bank. The firm is still building its specific pet care transaction record, but it already offers direct founder access, institutional-quality preparation, and competitive outreach across strategic and financial buyers. Its success-fee structure also gives owners an option that requires no upfront advisory retainer.

Firms With Limited Public Transaction Data

PIAG and Evergreen Business Sales market directly to dog daycare owners, but neither firm publishes enough completed pet care transactions to support inclusion in this comparison. Limited public disclosure does not prove limited experience, though it gives you less evidence to evaluate.

Before signing an engagement, ask each firm for a recent transaction list and references from owners of comparable facilities. Confirm the advisor's role and the size of each business sold. Ask whether the transactions involved daycare, boarding, grooming, or another pet category. You should also ask which buyers the firm contacted. Then ask how the advisor handled confidentiality and diligence involving licenses and employees.

Comparing the Six Firms Side by Side

Use business size and transaction type to identify which advisor warrants a closer look.

How to Choose the Right Advisor for Your Sale

Staff continuity depends on which buyers your advisor approaches and how the sale terms protect employees. PET|VET brings direct pet-services experience, while Salt Creek gives owners direct access to Jack and Connor Pitts throughout buyer screening and negotiations.

Price discovery requires outreach to multiple qualified buyers rather than reliance on one unsolicited offer. Peakstone and Lincoln bring institutional buyer reach for larger platforms. Salt Creek runs a competitive buyer process for lower-middle-market businesses, while its founders remain personally involved. For a deeper look at how a targeted buyer process differs from a listed-business sale, see Salt Creek's sell-side advisor versus business broker comparison. Deal certainty also depends on preparing recurring-revenue records, staffing details, and licensing materials before buyer diligence begins.

Business size narrows the field. Lincoln generally fits scaled, multi-location platforms, and Peakstone fits larger founder-owned companies. Capstone may suit larger pet products, food, or animal-health businesses. DanaShift warrants consideration for pet technology and adjacent animal-health transactions. A single facility or smaller regional operator may find PET|VET or Salt Creek more accessible.

Your desired timeline should account for preparation, buyer outreach, diligence, and financing. Ask each advisor who will perform the work, how many active engagements the senior team handles, and what could delay closing.

The central trade-off involves sector-specialist accessibility and institutional buyer reach. PET|VET sits closest to the specialist end, while Peakstone and Lincoln serve more institutional transactions. Salt Creek occupies the middle for established owners who want direct founder involvement, a structured M&A process, and no upfront retainer before a transaction closes.

Talk to Salt Creek About Your Pet Care Business

Advisor fit matters more than brand recognition. If you are considering a sale of your daycare, boarding facility, grooming business, or pet resort, schedule a confidential conversation with Jack and Connor. Jack and Connor can assess whether your business is ready for sale and likely to attract buyers. They can also explain whether Salt Creek fits your business and priorities.