In an announcement on Tuesday, Pets at Home Group (LON: PETS) said that veterinary company Linnaeus Group bought five of its specialist referral practices for £100 million. The company now wishes to expand its footprint in customer-facing services.
Pets at Home Group slipped just under 2% on market open on Tuesday but regained the majority of its intraday loss in the next few hours. On a year to date basis, the stock that you can learn to buy online here is now roughly 45% up after a more than 100% recovery since March.
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CEO Peter Pritchard’s comments on Tuesday
CEO Peter Pritchard of Pets at Home commented on the news on Tuesday and said:
“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.”
The specialist veterinary businesses that Pets at Home offloaded include Anderson Moores in Hampshire, Dick White Referrals in Cambridgeshire, Veterinary Specialists Scotland in Livingston, and Northwest Veterinary Specialists and Eye Vet in Cheshire.
The referral sites handle the most complicated cases with medicine and surgery, including oncology for pets and neurosurgery. The deal is expected to close next year in the first quarter. As per the agreement, Pets at Home will get £80 million in cash. The remaining £20 million will be subject to whether or not certain financial targets are achieved.
The news came only a day after Pets at Home revealed to have acquired The Vet Connection (veterinary telehealth provider) for £15 million. At the time of writing, Pets at Home is valued at £2.08 billion and has a price to earnings ratio of 29.16.
CEO Bart Johnson’s comments on Tuesday
CEO Bart Johnson of Linnaeus Group also commented on the news and said:
“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 of pets.”
In separate news from Europe, Credit Suisse said it proposed Antonio Horta-Osorio to replace Urs Rohner as its Chairman. Rohner is scheduled to step down after a tenure that spanned over almost a decade. Antonio, on the other hand, is currently serving as the CEO at Lloyds Banking Group and is scheduled to step down early in 2021.
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