Blake Lapthorn acts for CVS in veterinary sector
acquisition
Blake Lapthorn's Corporate Finance team has
advised CVS (UK) Limited (CVS) on its acquisition of Veterinary
Enterprises & Trading Limited (VET).
The team provided legal advice to its client
CVS for the deal, valued at approximately £12.2 million, which saw
the UK-wide veterinary services provider acquire VET, a group of
companies operating under the Pet Doctors brand, which operates 27
'first-opinion' veterinary clinics across the South of England.
The VET group also includes Greendale
Diagnostics, which has been providing diagnostic and related
laboratory services to veterinary surgeons, zoos and universities
for over 20 years, and Wey Referrals, a specialist referrals centre
operated by Pet Doctors, which offers 'second-opinion' and other
services not typically available in front-line veterinary
practices.
Manoj
Styche-Patel, a partner in the Corporate Finance team,
said: "We are pleased to have been able to help our long-standing
client CVS in acquiring the VET group. This deal further
reflects the increasing positivity that we are seeing in the
corporate M&A market."
CVS was formed in 1999 and floated on AIM in
October 2007. Its directors believe that CVS is the largest
employer and operator of small animal veterinary surgeries in the
UK, with 1,813 staff including 454 vets as at 31 December
2009. The Group operates 170 veterinary surgeries across the
UK, five veterinary laboratories and one pet crematorium.
Following completion of this latest acquisition, CVS is expected to
operate 197 veterinary surgeries and have approximately 2,000
staff.
This transaction underlines once again Blake
Lapthorn's position as the South coast's leading legal adviser to
quoted companies. The firm's Corporate team
currently advises around twenty publicly listed companies on
corporate finance matters.
For more details, please contact Daniel Baber, PR manager at Blake
Lapthorn on 020 7814 5489 or 07771 930 084, or at
daniel.baber@bllaw.co.uk.
