Audax Private Equity (“Audax”) announced today a strategic growth investment in Veterinary Practice Partners (“VPP”), a leading veterinary practice management group and portfolio company of Pamlico Capital. This investment will support VPP in its mission to transform the pet health industry by providing the best service and highest quality care to companion animals and their families, while significantly growing its strategic partnerships with veterinarians.
VPP’s goal is to partner with animal hospitals to help them focus on providing excellent care to patients and service to its clients. VPP partners with veterinarians across more than 85 practices in over 20 states, caring for over 200,000 patients. The unique co-ownership model with veterinarians enables them to focus on providing high quality care to patients and fostering a strong culture at their individual hospital, while VPP provides operational support across learning and development, HR and recruiting, marketing, technology, and finance.
John McDonough, CEO of VPP, said, “We are thrilled to be partnering with Audax and look forward to benefitting from their deep expertise within the healthcare and consumer industries. This partnership will allow us to meet the growing healthcare needs of our pet families, continue to expand our hospital footprint and services offered, while maintaining our deliberate focus on strong doctor relationships, premium quality pet care, and outstanding client service.”
“We commend VPP’s management team on building an impressive business and fostering a company-wide culture of partnership,” said Adam Abramson, Managing Director at Audax. “The business has tremendous momentum and provides truly unique co-ownership and development opportunities for doctor-partners. We couldn’t be more excited to partner with John and the VPP team in its next phase of growth.”
William Blair and Cain Brothers acted as financial advisors and Alston & Bird LLP served as legal advisor to Pamlico and VPP on the transaction. Ropes & Gray LLP served as legal counsel and Guggenheim Securities, LLC served as an advisor to Audax. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
