Warburg, Great Point, Axcel bet on vet care; Knox Lane targets medical workforce tech amid staffing challenges in the sector
Morning Hubsters,
Happy Fri-yay! John R Fischer here, ready to bring you today’s US Wire from the New York newsroom,
People are not the only ones living longer. Pets are too, which is leading to more age-related diseases that are driving demand for veterinary care services. Private equity investors, such as Warburg Pincus, Great Point Partners and Axcel, have taken note and gone after assets in the sector. We’ll discuss some of these below in my seven-deal listicle.
We’ll end with Friday Focus, where we’ll look at Knox Lane’s closed deal worth over $400 million involving a medical workforce technology company.
Pet care
Pets are living longer, thanks to owners investing more in their health and advances in animal medical care. As a result, complex diseases like cancer and diabetes – commonly seen in old age – are on the rise. This is driving demand for specialty and emergency veterinary care, drawing private equity investors to the subsector – and also raising deal multiples, according to CT Acquisitions.
I rounded up seven investments in veterinary care services that have closed in the last six months. Here are two from earlier in July:
VetnCare, a community of Northern California veterinary hospitals backed by Great Point Partners, announced in July the acquisition of Holistic Veterinary Care.
Holistic Veterinary Care is a holistic medicine and rehabilitation veterinary hospital that offers acupuncture and chiropractic practices alongside conventional veterinary medicine.
Both companies are based in Oakland, California. Holistic Veterinary Care is the sixth acquisition by VetnCare since Great Point Partners invested in the platform in 2022.
Dr Gary Richter, founder of Holistic Veterinary Care, will remain a part of the company as clinical director and a practicing veterinarian.
Also in July, Bond Vet, a portfolio company of Warburg Pincus and Talisman Capital Partners, announced the completed merger with Small Door Veterinary, which is backed by Valspring Capital, Primary Venture Partners and Lerer Hippeau.
Bond Vet is based in New York and provides primary, urgent, dental and surgical services to pets. Talisman Capital invested in the company in 2018, and Warburg Pincus invested $170 million into it in 2021.
Also based in New York, Small Door Veterinary uses a membership-based model to provide primary care, routine preventive care, advanced dentistry and surgery to animals, as well as 24/7 telemedicine and transparent pricing. Valspring Capital invested in 2025, while Primary Venture Partners and Lerer Hippeau backed the business in 2019.
Together, the organizations will manage over 55 clinics across major Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest markets and plan to add additional locations. The combined organization will employ over 1,000 team members, including over 170 veterinarians.
Beyond the completed deals in our listicle, more are coming. For example, animal health company Zoetis agreed to acquire VitalRads in July. VitalRads is a veterinary teleradiology and mobile ultrasound services platform based in Cypress, Texas. The seller is Thrive Pet Healthcare, which is backed by TSG Consumer Partners. The transaction is expected to close in Q3.
Friday Focus
Healthcare staffing companies that focus on specific clinical specialties have caught the attention of private equity. High-margin businesses, such as behavioral health and radiology, are particularly popular among dealmakers. Investors also are looking for companies with cloud and AI-based technologies for tracking labor needs and workforce planning. Investing in these technologies comes with less regulatory and reimbursement risk, compared with provider organizations.
Earlier this week, Knox Lane announced the closing of a $437 million acquisition of Cross Country Healthcare, a provider of staffing services, strategies and technologies for medical workforces.
The all-cash transaction agreement for the Boca Raton, Florida-based company was announced in May.
Cross Country Healthcare offers workforce services and uses predictive AI to address staffing and workforce management challenges. It also uses analytics to track workforce performance and satisfaction.
As part of the transaction, Knox Lane portfolio company All Star Healthcare Solutions has acquired Cross Country Healthcare’s locums division.
“We are excited to leverage our extensive experience to bring added strategic focus and capabilities to the business to build on its already strong foundation, technology, and customer relationships,” said John Bailey, managing partner at Knox Lane and Shamik Patel, partner at Knox Lane, back in May.
Well, that’s it for me. As always, if you have any questions, comments or want to chat, drop me an email at john.fischer@pei.group.
Nina Lindholm will be back on Monday in the Europe chair, and MK Flynn will bring you the US Wire.
Cheers,
John
