Pets at Home sells five specialist vet practices for £100m
Pets at Home has agreed to sell five of its specialists referral practices for up to £100m.
The FTSE 250 firm today announced it would sell the practices to Solihull-based Linnaeus Group, which operates over 150 veterinary clinics across the UK.
Pets at Home said the disposal comprises £80m in cash on completion and a deferred cash consideration of £20m, “payable upon certain financial milestones being met in the future.” The company said the proceeds will be retained “for general corporate purposes”.
Pets at Home operates 451 retail stores and 440 First Opinion veterinary practices, that refer pets with complex health needs to specialist centres. Chief executive Peter Pritchard said: “The disposal does not deviate from our core focus of providing customers with affordable, convenient, engaging and flexible pet care solutions”.
The disposal comes just a day after Pets at Home announced the acquisition of veterinary telehealth provider The Vet Connection for £15m as it looks to cash in on remote consultations during the pandemic.
Pets at Home has been a rare winer in the coronavirus pandemic, having pivoted quickly to offer contactless collection of products for customers and direct-to-home healthcare subscription models.
As an “essential” retailer the FTSE 250 firm saw revenue grow 4.2 per cent in the six months to October, with almost a third of all sales from the company’s pet care services.
The deal announced today, which will see the disposal of practices across Cambridgeshire, Hampshire, Cheshire and Livingston, Scotland, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2021.
“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,” said Linnaeus chief Bart Johnson.