From Questions in 2024 to a $100 Million Legal Fight

When The 101 Report first examined Jacksonville-based Pet Paradise in August 2024, the company's future appeared uncertain.

Longtime President and CEO Fernando Acosta-Rua had been removed from his leadership position. Majority owner Crane Group had installed Alex Miller as the company's new president and CEO. Minority investors were raising questions about the company's finances, its direction and a multimillion-dollar loan from Crane Group.

Our original article, “Trouble in Pet Paradise,” asked what those changes could ultimately mean for the Jacksonville company and its minority shareholders.

Two years later, some of those questions have moved from the boardroom to the courtroom.

In June 2025, Pet Paradise investors filed a lawsuit against Crane Group-related directors alleging self-dealing and breaches of the company's operating agreement. According to reporting by the Jacksonville Business Journal, the plaintiffs sought damages that could exceed $100 million. 

And as of September 2026, the dispute isn't necessarily over.

A court-appointed trustee has supported dismissing the shareholder claims. The minority investors, however, are challenging that conclusion and arguing that the investigation supporting it was flawed. 

That gives the original Trouble in Pet Paradise story a very different ending than was visible in 2024.

What Started the Pet Paradise Dispute?

Pet Paradise's roots are in Northeast Florida.

Founder Fred Goldsmith led an investor group that purchased the business in 2002. Crane Group acquired a majority interest in the company in 2016, according to Pet Paradise's own corporate history. 

The company subsequently underwent dramatic expansion.

By April 2024, Pet Paradise had grown from 27 resorts in six states at the time of Crane's involvement to approximately 60 resorts in 11 states. Veterinary services had also been added at more than 20 locations. 

But growth in locations didn't necessarily mean that ownership was satisfied with the company's financial performance.

When Crane Group President and CEO Tanny Crane informed investors in April 2024 that Acosta-Rua was being replaced, she pointed to revenue and EBITDA milestones that continued to be delayed.

Acosta-Rua publicly said his departure was involuntary and was not supported by the entire board. Alex Miller was appointed president and CEO. 

That leadership change became the starting point for our original reporting.

The Questions Raised in “Trouble in Pet Paradise”

Our August 2024 story focused not simply on a CEO being replaced but on what minority investors said was happening behind the scenes.

One significant issue involved financing.

The original report described a $70 million loan from Crane Group to Pet Paradise carrying 18% interest compounded monthly, based upon information available to us at the time. Minority shareholders questioned the financial consequences of the arrangement and whether increasing debt could ultimately affect the value of their ownership interests.

The broader question was straightforward:

Was Pet Paradise's rapid expansion creating value for all of its shareholders—or creating a financial structure increasingly controlled by its majority investor?

At the time, there was no lawsuit answering that question.

There is now.

Pet Paradise Investors Sue Crane Group

In June 2025, several Pet Paradise investors and company insiders took the dispute to Franklin County Common Pleas Court in Ohio.

According to published reporting, the plaintiffs included Pet Paradise's founder and former CEO, current board members, a former chief veterinary officer and an investor. They alleged that Crane Group used its majority position to engage in self-dealing and benefit itself at the expense of the pet-care business. The requested damages could exceed $100 million. 

Those are allegations, not judicial findings.

That distinction is important.

Crane Group has not been found liable merely because minority investors filed suit, and the subsequent developments demonstrate why allegations in a shareholder lawsuit should not be treated as established fact.

The Case Takes Another Turn

By December 2025, the dispute had entered another phase.

A special litigation committee was being used to examine evidence, interview witnesses and make a recommendation concerning the shareholder claims. Reporting at the time indicated that depositions were part of that process. 

Then came the latest development.

On September 16, 2026, the Jacksonville Business Journal reported that a court-appointed trustee supported dismissal of the claims against Crane Group.

But the Jacksonville-based minority investors aren't accepting that conclusion.

They have objected, arguing that the review itself was flawed and seeking to keep the litigation alive. 

The result is an unusual reversal from where the story stood when we first reported it.

In 2024, minority shareholders were asking questions about what Crane Group intended to do.

In 2025, those disagreements became litigation.

In 2026, the argument has expanded to include not only the underlying allegations but also disagreement over the process used to evaluate them.

Meanwhile, Pet Paradise Continues Operating and Expanding

The corporate dispute shouldn't be confused with the operating business.

Pet Paradise continues to describe itself as having more than 60 locations across 11 states, with boarding, day camp, grooming and veterinary services. Its Jacksonville headquarters remains at 1551 Atlantic Boulevard. 

Crane Group continues to list Pet Paradise among its current portfolio companies.

Its description of the investment is notably different from the allegations made in the shareholder litigation.

Crane says it helped Pet Paradise expand from 26 locations to more than 60, provided assistance with capital structure and cash planning, and supported technology and marketing improvements. Crane currently reports 19.1% annual revenue growth and says more than 100,000 pet owners use Pet Paradise each year. 

That provides an important counterpoint to the shareholder dispute.

One side alleges that majority ownership engaged in conduct detrimental to the company and minority investors.

Crane publicly presents its involvement as a successful long-term partnership that provided capital and expertise enabling Pet Paradise's growth.

Those positions remain sharply different.

Alex Miller Remains CEO of Pet Paradise

Another question from 2024 has been answered more clearly.

Alex Miller wasn't simply a temporary replacement following Acosta-Rua's departure.

As of September 2026, Pet Paradise continues to identify Miller as President and Chief Executive Officer. The company says he joined Pet Paradise in 2024 after more than 30 years working in retail, consumer goods and services. 

Crane Group separately identifies Miller as Pet Paradise's president and CEO. 

And Pet Paradise's current board still includes Crane Group President and CEO Tanny Crane. 

Operationally, then, the leadership change that surprised investors in 2024 has become the company's established management structure.

What Happened to Fernando Acosta-Rua?

Acosta-Rua also remained connected to Pet Paradise after losing the CEO position.

In March 2025, Jacksonville-based Heritage Capital Group announced that Acosta-Rua had joined the investment banking and financial advisory firm as a principal and shareholder.

Importantly, Heritage said at the time that he remained a Pet Paradise board member and investor. 

His career move therefore didn't necessarily end his financial or governance interest in what happened to the company he had helped build.

Acosta-Rua told the Jacksonville Daily Record that during his approximately 17 years with Pet Paradise, the company grew from three locations and 35 employees to more than 60 facilities in 11 states with approximately 2,000 employees. 

The Jacksonville Connection Hasn't Disappeared

The ownership dispute also raises an interesting question about Pet Paradise's identity.

The majority investor is based in Columbus, Ohio. Miller lives in the Chicago area. Yet Pet Paradise continues to maintain its corporate headquarters in Jacksonville, advertises headquarters employment here and operates multiple Northeast Florida locations. 

Florida corporate filings similarly continue to show Jacksonville addresses for Pet Paradise-related entities controlled through American Pet Resort LLC. A March 2026 annual report for one such entity lists 1551 Atlantic Boulevard, Suite 200, as its principal and mailing address. 

So although control resides with an out-of-state majority investor, Pet Paradise remains very much a Jacksonville-based business operation.

That's one reason this isn't simply an obscure private-equity dispute hundreds of miles away.

It involves a company that grew here, employs people here, maintains its headquarters here and still includes Jacksonville investors among the people fighting over its direction.

What Has Changed Since Our Original Pet Paradise Report?

The biggest change is that uncertainty has become litigation.

When we published Trouble in Pet Paradise in August 2024, we wrote that the company's future direction remained uncertain and that minority shareholders wanted greater clarity about their investment.

The intervening two years have provided some answers.

Miller remains CEO. Crane remains the majority owner. Pet Paradise remains in Crane Group's investment portfolio. The company continues operating more than 60 locations and hasn't abandoned Jacksonville.

But the underlying shareholder disagreement didn't disappear.

It escalated.

What began with questions surrounding leadership, financing and minority shareholder interests became a lawsuit seeking potentially more than $100 million. That lawsuit then became the subject of an independent review process, followed by a recommendation favoring dismissal—and now objections from the shareholders who brought the claims. 

What Happens Next in the Pet Paradise Lawsuit?

That's again the unanswered question.

A recommendation that claims be dismissed isn't the same thing as the shareholders abandoning their allegations. The latest reporting shows that the plaintiffs are actively challenging the review and attempting to keep their case alive. 

Future court action could therefore determine whether the underlying allegations receive further litigation or whether the recommendation to dismiss ultimately prevails.

Until then, two Pet Paradise stories are unfolding simultaneously.

One is an operating story: a Jacksonville company with more than 60 locations, a national footprint, veterinary services and an established CEO.

The other is an ownership story: minority investors and a majority investor engaged in a legal fight over decisions made during the company's extraordinary expansion.

When we first wrote about Pet Paradise in 2024, we ended with uncertainty about which direction the company would take.

Two years later, Pet Paradise itself continues moving forward.

The fight over what happened behind the scenes isn't finished yet.

Pet Paradise: A Tale of Growth, Conflict, and Uncertainty