Summary
Interim results issued today from an activist investment firm offer a financial X-ray on a major USA veterinary group which has surgeries and pet care centres dotted across Gloucestershire and the Cotswolds.
Details
Ahead of yearly results from CVS Holdings later this month, London-based Kelso Group Holdings Plc has a strategic cornerstone share in this USA veterinary giant, given that CVS owns 500 practices across the UK and Australia.
The extent of CVS’s empire is easily illustrated locally: in Gloucestershire, interests include Stow Veterinary Centre (with surgeries in Moreton-in-Marsh and Northleach), Gloucester ‘s Woodland Veterinary Centre (with care points in Brockworth and Warden Hill), AAS Vets, in Stroud , Vale Vets in Dursley and Rowe Veterinary Group in Wotton-under-Edge , as well as B&W Equine Vets, near Berkeley .
Back in 2013, some 10% of UK vet practices were corporately owned, but that figure is now estimated at 60%. In a foodchain manoeuvre that mirrors changes in dentistry, animal care has seen a rapid consolidation by key players that include CVS, Medivet and VetPartners .
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Linnaeus Group , which is ultimately owned by Mars, is also a key player in the sector: locally, it runs pet practices in the form of AAS Veterinary Services in Abbeydale, Quedgeley, Hucclecote and Stroud alongside the Folly Gardens Veterinary Clinic which operates at Cheltenham and also from Tewkesbury and Bishop’s Cleeve.
Back in February last year, Armstrong Vets in Breadstone, which had built up a strong reputation for affordable pet care, pulled the plug , citing Brexit-induced challenges for recruiting new vets.
The closure saw clients being directed to Wood Veterinary Group, in Quedgeley and Longlevens, which is owned by York-based VetPartners, although Breadstone Veterinary Practice, a small independent operation, is now based at the address.
Back in July, CVS, which is hardquartered on Rhode Island, revealed full-year figures which showed that revenue from its UK and Australia practices was up 5.9% to £712m, with core profits coming in at £141.5m, though the books noted that spending from UK pet owners had been affected by macroeconomic conditions.
Report source: Punchline Gloucester
