Pet care group in £15m acquisition of telehealth service
Cheshire pet care group Pets at Home announced the £15m acquisition of The Vet Connection today.
Based in Leatherhead, Surrey, TVC was founded in 2002, and has an established and successful track record of providing on demand, high-quality, round-the clock veterinary telehealth advice, triage and ancillary services to a wide range of customers and their pets.
Using an experienced in-house veterinary team, the company already conducts approximately 90,000 remote consultations each year, underpinned by extensive proprietary clinical protocols, a wide range of communication channels and a robust and scalable infrastructure.
In the year to April 2020, The Vet Connection, the UK’s largest independent veterinary telehealth provider, achieved adjusted Ebitda of £0.7m.
Pets at Home says the acquisition will broad its digital capability in trusted advice and pet care solutions. The deal is being financed using Pets at Home’s existing cash reserves.
Peter Pritchard, Pets at Home group chief executive, said: “The acquisition of TVC marks an important next step in the development of our digital capabilities providing trusted advice and even more convenient pet care services.
“We have followed their business for a number of years and know Jamie Moodie, Nick Irvine, Rob Mitchell and the TVC team well, and look forward to working with their current partners and supporting the continued development of their service.
“We recognise TVC’s exceptional telehealth capabilities and excellent service levels, as well as the opportunities arising from the scalability of their clinical protocols and proprietary telehealth platform, and look forward to incorporating their capabilities into our existing customer offer – across product, services and subscriptions – to enhance the overall customer experience, and help drive customer acquisition, retention and lifetime value.”
He added: “TVC is a ‘win-win’ solution for our customers, colleagues and JVPs, providing 24/7 access to trusted advice from the comfort of home with increased flexibility around veterinary work-life balance.”
