DVM count and turnover
How many doctors you have and how long they stay. A stable multi-doctor team is the single biggest signal that the practice runs without you.
For veterinary practice owners
Sell your veterinary practice to the right buyer, at the right number.
The consolidators have your number and the calls do not stop. One caller is not a market, and the first offer is rarely the best one. If you are thinking about selling, work with an advisor who knows what drives a veterinary valuation and puts the right buyers in competition for the practice you built.
Every conversation is confidential. No pressure, no obligation.
The problem
Answering one consolidator's call is not selling your practice. It is getting priced by them.
Corporate buyers are good at making one owner feel like the only seller in the market. Engage a single acquirer and you inherit their valuation and their terms with nothing to measure them against. The owners who capture full value understand their drivers, fix what discounts them, and let several qualified buyers compete for the same practice.
The second problem is dependence. If the practice cannot run a week without you, a buyer sees risk, not a business, and prices it accordingly. Adding a doctor and reducing how much rides on you takes time, which is why the work starts a year or two before the sale, not the week you decide.
What moves your value in a veterinary practice.
Buyers price each of these. They are where value is won or lost.
Two-vet premium vs solo risk
A practice with more than one producing doctor trades better than a solo practice, because a solo practice largely stops when the owner does.
Doctor comp as a share of production
Where doctor compensation sits as a percentage of production tells a buyer how much real margin is left after paying the people who generate it.
AAHA accreditation
Accreditation signals standards, records, and systems a buyer can trust, which shortens diligence and supports the story.
Specialty and ER mix
Emergency and specialty services can command a premium, but they also change staffing and the buyer pool. Mix shapes who bids and how hard.
Real estate ownership
If you own the building, it is usually a separate deal, sold or leased back. Handled deliberately, it is a second stream of value.
Underneath all of it is one question a buyer is really asking: how much of this practice depends on you? That is the point of owner dependence: selling a business that needs you.
Who is buying veterinary practices.
Veterinary is one of the most consolidated corners of healthcare. Corporate consolidators and private-equity-backed platforms are building regional and national groups and pay the most for stable, multi-doctor, accredited practices, usually with an earnout or rollover-equity component and a transition period. Larger regional groups expand by acquisition. Individual veterinarians buy smaller owner-run practices. Each values your practice differently and structures the deal differently. My job is to put the right buyers in competition so you control the price, the cash at closing, the equity you roll, and how long you stay.
How I help you sell.
One advisor who understands the practice, with two firms behind the deal.
First we get the practice ready: clean, defensible financials and a clear read on doctor staffing, compensation ratios, service mix, and how much depends on you, handled through Thryve Accounting & Advisory, ideally a year or two before you go to market. Then we position the practice, build a targeted list of the buyers who would pay a premium for it, and run a disciplined process that creates real competition. The transaction is executed through Optima Mergers & Acquisitions, a Dallas middle-market investment bank named to Axial's Advisor 100. Senior attention and institutional muscle on the same deal.
Questions owners ask
Straight answers before we talk.
Why do consolidators keep calling me?
Veterinary medicine has been one of the most actively consolidated healthcare categories for a decade. Corporate groups and private-equity-backed platforms buy practices to build regional scale, and they source deals by calling owners directly. A call is not a market. Engage one buyer alone and you get their number and their terms. The owners who do best let several qualified buyers compete, which is the point of running a process instead of answering the phone.
What is my veterinary practice actually worth?
Buyers value a practice on adjusted EBITDA, your profit after a market-rate salary for the doctors is subtracted, including your own. What moves that number: how many DVMs you have and whether the practice runs without you, doctor compensation as a percentage of production, AAHA accreditation, service mix, and whether you own the real estate. A two-doctor practice that runs without the owner is worth more per dollar of earnings than a solo practice that stops the day you leave.
Do I have to keep practicing after I sell?
Usually for a transition period, commonly one to three years, longer or shorter depending on how much the practice depends on you. If you are the only doctor, buyers will want you to stay to hold the patient base together, and part of the price can be tied to that period. Building a second doctor and reducing how much rides on you is the most reliable way to shorten the commitment and improve the terms.
Does owning my building change the deal?
Yes, usually in your favor. If you own the real estate, it is typically handled as a separate transaction, either sold or leased back to the buyer under a long-term lease. Treated deliberately, it becomes a second source of value and income rather than an afterthought folded into the practice price.
Related reading
Thinking about selling your veterinary practice?
The first call is free, thirty minutes, and completely confidential. Tell me where the practice stands and I will tell you straight what a buyer will see and what is worth doing before you go to market.
Book a confidential call