Shore Capital Partners has acquired Advanced Animal Hospital Group and Progressive Pet Animal Hospitals and has merged the two businesses to form Midwest Veterinary Partners.
To complete these transactions, Shore has partnered with Dr. Vic Dhillon, owner of Advanced Animal Hospital Group, and Dr. Jeff Rothstein, owner of Progressive Pet Animal Hospitals, to pursue a consolidation of animal hospitals throughout the Midwest.
“As customized veterinary solutions have become more complex and demanding, we believe that collaborating with financial and strategic partners is beneficial for our customers and, of course, their beloved pets,” said Dr. Dhillon. “With Shore Capital Partners’ investment and by joining forces with Progressive Pet Animal Hospitals, we will have the additional resources and capabilities to create a leading veterinary services company in the Midwest.”
With the formation of Midwest Veterinary Partners (MVP) complete, the group now has 22 general practice veterinary clinics in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois, and provides services to companion animals including vaccinations, surgery, wellness exams, oncology, ophthalmology, allergy treatment and dermatology. Shore plans to invest in infrastructure to standardize operations and provide support to MVP’s current and future clinics including centralized finance, accounting, human resources, IT, sales and marketing.
According to Shore, pet ownership among US households is at an all-time high of 68% and with an increase in the average lifespan of pets, ownership costs have continued to rise and demand for veterinary services has increased. Veterinary service expenditures in the US are expected to continue growing at more than 4% annually and will surpass $46 billion by 2021.
“Advanced Animal Hospital Group and Progressive Pet Animal Hospitals are terrific businesses that each have a reputation for providing high-quality care and treatment for pets of all kinds, and that provide highly complementary services,” said Mike Cooper, a Partner at Shore. “Importantly, as pet ownership levels continue to increase, we believe this investment and merger represents a strategic opportunity to take advantage of a fragmented, yet growing market and to consolidate veterinary clinics throughout the Midwest. We are very pleased to partner with Vic, Jeff and their respective teams, and are eager to begin aggressively scaling this new company.”
The formation of MVP is the fourth platform investment for Shore Capital Partners Fund II LP, a $190 million fund that closed in April 2017.
Shore Capital Partners invests in lower middle market healthcare related companies that have $5 million to $50 million of revenue and $1 million to $5 million of EBITDA. Shore targets equity commitments of $10 million to $15 million per platform. Healthcare sectors of particular interest include behavioral health; healthcare staffing; infusion therapy; laboratory products & distribution; laboratory services; outpatient rehab therapy; urgent care; veterinary services; pharmaceutical services and contract research. Shore was founded in 2009 and is based in Chicago (www.shorecp.com).
© 2017 Private Equity Professional | November 1, 2017