Pets at Home’s Specialist Division joins Linnaeus family
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Veterinary services provider Linnaeus, which is part of Mars Veterinary Health Group, has today announced that, subject to completion, Pets at Home’s Specialist Division of five veterinary referral practices is to join the Linnaeus family.
The announcement sees Pets at Home’s entire portfolio of five referral practices, known as the Specialist Division, become part of the Linnaeus family, which includes almost 680 staff.
Linnaeus was founded in 2014 out of the highly regarded Willows Veterinary Centre and Referral Service from a single site and a team of 120. Linnaeus was acquired in 2018 by Mars Veterinary Health and has continued to grow, now employing around 3,500 staff.
The referral practices joining Linnaeus include Anderson Moores near Winchester, Dick White Referrals near Cambridge, North West Veterinary Referrals and Eye Vet, both in Runcorn and the new facility Veterinary Specialists Scotland in Livingston which opened its doors in October.
All services will retain their existing branding and will initially continue with business as usual, with all staff transferring to Linnaeus after completion.
Bart Johnson, CEO of Linnaeus, said: “We are delighted to welcome our new colleagues and these fantastic and highly-respected referral practices into the Linnaeus family and to grow our offering further, taking another step towards making an even better world for pets.”
Alejandro Bernal, President, Mars Veterinary Health International, part of Mars Petcare which owns Linnaeus, said: “Pet care has been an important part of Mars for over 80 years and this strategic acquisition reaffirms our commitment both to the pet care industry and veterinary profession.
Peter Pritchard, Group Chief Executive Officer, Pets at Home commented: “The deal represents a great outcome for all of our stakeholders. Linnaeus is a well-regarded operator of veterinary practices with a strong and established track record of practice management.
“We hold them in high regard, and they will be a great home for our highly-skilled colleagues in the Specialist Group, underpinned by an ongoing commitment to specialist multi-disciplinary veterinary care, supported by Mars.”
For more information about Linnaeus and its teams, search for Linnaeus on LinkedIn.