LOS ANGELES _ Candy and pet-care giant Mars Inc. agreed to buy pet health care provider VCA Inc. for $7.7 billion in cash, the companies said Monday.
Los Angeles-based VCA operates nearly 800 animal hospitals and 60 diagnostic laboratories in the United States and Canada.
The firm employs 23,000 people and had 2015 revenue of $2.1 billion.
The deal calls for Mars to pay $93 for each of VCA's shares and to assume VCA's $1.4 billion in debt. VCA's stock _ whose ticker symbol is WOOF _ soared $19.84, or 28 percent, to $90.62 a share in Monday morning trading.
"VCA is a leader across pet health care and the opportunity we see together _ for pets, pet owners, veterinarians and other pet care providers _ is tremendous," Mars Chief Executive Grant Reid said in a statement.
The deal was approved by both companies' directors but remains subject to approval by VCA's stockholders. It's expected to be completed in this year's third quarter.
Mars, which is based in McLean, Va., and has $35 billion in annual sales, is the privately held maker of such candy brands as M&M's, Snickers, Milky Way, Skittles, Dove chocolate and Wrigley's gum.
The century-old company also has a major pet-care unit whose pet food brands include Pedigree, Whiskas and Sheba. It owns Banfield Pet Hospitals, many of which are in PetSmart Inc. retail locations.
"We simply believe Mars ... found VCA to be an attractive long-term asset, and we would expect the two businesses to complement one another quite nicely," analyst Nicholas Jansen of the investment firm Raymond James & Associates said in a note to clients.
In a memo to its employees, VCA said it would remain based in Los Angeles and continue to operate under the VCA name as part of Mars.
VCA said that its employees' "tenure and seniority with VCA ... will be maintained" and that the Mars deal would offer them "enhanced career-development opportunities." The companies did not indicate whether any job cuts are contemplated for after the deal closes.
VCA said that it did not seek out the Mars offer but that, as a publicly held company, it "had a responsibility to consider the opportunity carefully."
