Pets at Home Group Plc (LON:PETS), the UK’s leading pet care business, has announced the disposal of its five Specialist referral practices to Linnaeus Group for cash consideration of up to £100m.
Pets at Home’s strategy as the UK’s leading pet care business is unchanged, with this disposal being part of the continuing focus of Group resources on customer-facing activities across our 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, Pets at Home Group Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“I am very pleased to have agreed the disposal of the Specialist Group to Linnaeus.
“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.
“The disposal represents a great outcome for all of our stakeholders. Linnaeus is a well-regarded operator of veterinary practices with a strong and established track record of practice management. We hold them in high regard, and they will be a great home for our highly-skilled colleagues in the Specialist Group, underpinned by an ongoing commitment to specialist multi-disciplinary veterinary care, supported by Mars. For our First Opinion Joint Venture Partners and Retail colleagues, the disposal allows realignment of financial and operational resource to support them in doing even more for our customers and their pets. For our shareholders, the disposal proceeds provide the Group with additional resource to accelerate growth across our customer-focused pet care platform.”
Bart Johnson, CEO of Linnaeus, commented: “We are delighted to welcome our new colleagues and these fantastic and highly-respected referral practices into the Linnaeus family and to grow our offering further, taking another step towards making an even better world for pets.”
