Premier Veterinary completes £6m sale of buying group

Premier Veterinary Group announced on Tuesday that, further to the announcement it made on 3 March, it had completed the sale of the business, trade and assets of its buying group to Animal Healthcare Services - a subsidiary of Henry Schein - for a cash consideration of £6.3m.

The London-listed firm said its buying group offered enhanced discounts to member practices on pharmaceutical and consumable spending.

All related employees would be transferred to the acquirer, and the board said it believed that the acquirer was well positioned to enhance the offer currently available to Premier Buying Group members.

“The net cash proceeds after transaction costs and taxation of between £4.5m and £5.0m will, as previously announced, be used to repay all existing debt of £1.25m and further fund PVG's international growth plans for its Premier Pet Care Plan business in both the US and Europe,” the company’s board said in a statement.

For the year ended 30 September 2016, the Premier Buying Group contributed revenues and operating profit of £1.12m and £0.77m respectively.

“As at 30 September 2016, the book value of gross assets that are subject to the disposal were £0.1m,” the board confirmed.

“The disposal of the Premier Buying Group is expected to be earnings dilutive.”