Pets at Home has announced it has sold off its five specialist referral practices to the Linnaeus Group for £100m
Pets at Home said its strategy as the UK’s leading pet care business is unchanged. The move is part of the group’s continuing focus of on customer-facing activities across its omnichannel retailing and First Opinion veterinary operations.
The specialist group comprises the assets and operations of:
- Dick White Referrals in Cambridgeshire
- Anderson Moores in Hampshire
- Northwest Veterinary Specialists in Cheshire
- Eye Vet in Cheshire
Veterinary Specialists Scotland in Livingston, Scotland
Linnaeus Group, a subsidiary of Mars Veterinary Health, is a veterinary group operating over 150 veterinary clinics across the UK, including highly-respected primary care and referral practices.
The disposal of the specialist group is for consideration of up to £100m, comprising £80m in cash on completion and deferred cash consideration of £20m, payable upon certain financial milestones being met in the future. The cash proceeds will be retained by the group for general corporate purposes. The disposal is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2021 and is subject to a limited number of customary conditions and approvals.
Peter Pritchard, group chief executive, commented: “Pets at Home is the UK’s leading pet care business, across our retail and veterinary operations. This disposal does not deviate from our core focus of providing customers with affordable, convenient, engaging and flexible pet care solutions through our growing online platform and estate of 440 First Opinion veterinary practices and 451 stores. We wish Bart and his team well over the coming years.”
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