McLean, Virginia-based Mars, best known for its candy empire including M&Ms and Snickers bars, also owns a large pet care business, and it’s adding to it with a $1.3 billion acquisition of .
Mars鈥� pet care business is one of the largest in the country. Its pet food brands include Pedigree, Royal Canin and Whiskas. It also owns a growing chain of pet hospitals and pet diagnostic services.
Heska will become part of Mars’ Science and Diagnostics division of Mars Petcare.
Loveland, Colorado-based Heska was founded in 1988. It manufactures, markets and supports diagnostic and specialty solutions for veterinary practitioners.
Heska had $257.3 million in revenue for 2022. The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2023.
Mars is the largest privately-held company in the D.C. region, with annual sales of $45 billion.
