International legal practice Osborne Clarke has advised the management team of private equity Buy & Build specialist, Sovereign Capital Partners (Sovereign) portfolio company Linneaus Group, on its sale of market leading veterinary service provider, Linnaeus, to Mars Petcare’s Veterinary Health Group, a part of Mars, Incorporated.
The sale, for an undisclosed sum, is Sovereign’s largest ever exit and will generate Sovereign’s strongest ever gross return. At exit, the Linnaeus Group had grown from 1 to 87 sites in England including 5 specialist referral centres. The team had grown from 120 to over 1,400 including: c.360 vets and c.160 leading specialists. Today Linnaeus is recognised as one of the UK’s leading veterinary services providers and is a large private referral focused provider in the UK.
The Osborne Clarke team previously acted for the Linneaus Management Team in 2014 when Sovereign acquired the original veterinary platform, Willows Veterinary Centre and Referral Service. Partner Mark Spinner and Senior Associate Sarah Crabtree advised the team on the exit.
The deal is the latest in a series of high profile management advisory roles completed by Osborne Clarke’s specialist Management Advisory Practice. Past deals include advising the Senior Management team of Odeon Cinemas on its €1.21 billon acquisition by AMC Entertainment and the Senior Management of Ascendos Rail Leasing on its €275 million sale to Beacon Rail Leasing Ltd a portfolio company of Pamplona Capital Management.
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