HIG Growth Partners, the growth equity group affiliate of private equity investment firm HIG Capital, has sold its position in Community Veterinary Clinics (CVC) to CVC’s management team and majority owners.
CVC provides preventative and wellness veterinary services throughout the US via its network of clinics. The company’s more than 2,500 community clinics, located in locally-based pet stores and feed stores, offer a wide variety of preventative pet care services, including diagnostic tests, vaccinations, prescription medications, microchipping and wellness checks. In addition, CVC sells a wide variety of prescription diets, medication, and other pet supplies through its online ecommerce store.
In August 2014, HIG portfolio company PawsPlus merged with VIP Petcare Holdings to form CVC, which, at the time brought together over 600 employees across 24 offices across the US serving approximately 1,500 clinic locations.
Concurrent with the VIP Petcare merger, PawsPlus sold its VETCO-related assets to PETCO Animal Supplies.
HIG originally acquired PawsPlus in December 2010 in a take-private transaction from a non-trading public entity.
“We are proud of the part that HIG played in partnering with VIP Petcare to create the country’s leading clinic-based veterinary care business,” says Steve Loose, managing director of HIG Capital.
Craig Niebur, former CEO of PawsPlus, says: “The PawsPlus team was fortunate to work with HIG to build a strong national pet services platform. They were instrumental in developing and executing on the strategy that lead to a very successful outcome for everyone.”
