Regulator questioned following IVC Evidensia acquisition concerns

The actions of a business regulator have been questioned after it voiced competition concerns over several acquisitions made by a major veterinary care provider.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is due to decide a second phase inquiry is needed to examine the acquisition of eight previously independent businesses by IVC Evidensia.

But a campaigner who led calls for a Welsh Parliamentary inquiry into the issue believes the body should have acted earlier against what she sees as the corporate “hold” on the sector.

IVC was given five working days, until today (24 February), to submit proposals addressing concerns raised by the CMA.

The authority said it had identified 23 local areas of Essex, Kent, Suffolk, Norfolk, Anglesey and south Wales where it had concerns about the supply of small animal services following the deals.

Further issues

Further issues were identified over out-of-hours emergency care in Norfolk and Suffolk, plus equine services in Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.

But the CMA was also critical of what it saw as a lack of publicity about the deals when they were completed, stating it only began its inquiries after “material facts” were provided by IVC in August 2022.

If such proposals are submitted, the CMA will then have a further five working days – ending this Friday (3 March) to decide whether those plans are sufficient to address the concerns raised, or whether a second phase inquiry should take place.

An IVC spokesperson told Vet Times the company could not comment on whether it would respond to the CMA’s request for legal reasons. But it previously said it was “disappointed” by the review outcome and insisted it had publicised the acquisitions at the time.

Competition concerns

The case is the third in the past two years where the CMA has raised competition concerns over acquisitions made by large veterinary care groups. Plans to investigate a fourth case, involving Medivet, were announced last month.

But the IVC announcement has been seen in some quarters as a sign the authority is now prepared to take a tougher line on such transactions, after CMA officials said they were still receiving price or service-related complaints “as a result of too many vets’ practices in the same area being under the control of a single company”.

The authority also highlighted data showing the proportion of independent practices in the UK veterinary sector has nearly halved, from 89% in 2013 to just 45% by 2021.

But it wouldn’t be drawn on whether the comments represented a fresh approach, instead pointing to its powers to review a merger deal where the business being acquired generates more than £70 million of its turnover in the UK, or when the combined entity has at least a 25% market share across the UK or a “substantial part” of it.

Its decision summary argued the acquisitions did not pass the takeover test, but did meet the supply threshold for further consideration.

‘Corporate takeover’

Linda Joyce-Jones, an Anglesey-based animal welfare campaigner whose call for an inquiry into what she described as the “corporate takeover” of the veterinary profession has been taken up by Welsh parliamentarians, questioned whether the CMA’s powers are sufficient, but argued action could still have been taken earlier.

She said: “I think their current action in regards to the veterinary corporates shows the extent of their hold on the sector – a hold that shouldn’t have been allowed to happen over so many years in the first place.

“Why they have taken so long to act is a mystery to me, even with the limited powers they have.”

Influence views

But, during the recent Big 6 Live event held at the SPVS Congress in Birmingham, PetsApp boss Thom Jenkins argued corporate influence should not be seen as wholly negative.

He said: “I don’t engage with this idea of the corporate baddies and the independent goodies.

“I think there’s room for a real mix in our profession. It’s great to see so many veterinary professionals see the power that they have and starting up their own businesses.”