Vet group Eville & Jones agrees to divest Vorenta business

Veterinary service provider Eville & Jones (E&J) has told the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) it is willing to divest the Vorenta business it acquired in September last year, effectively unravelling the merger.

E&J has proposed selling the entire Vorenta business to a group made up of members of the current Vorenta senior management team.

See also: CMA raises ‘competition concerns’ over planned vet merger

The CMA had previously looked into the proposed merger between E&J and Vorenta and determined that it could result in a substantial lessening of competition in the UK veterinary sector.

As a result of E&J’s offer, the CMA is now unlikely to carry out a more in-depth phase two investigation into the businesses.

The CMA’s assessment decided that the proposed undertakings would resolve the competition issues identified in its inquiry, such as higher costs for other businesses and lower-quality services.

The divestiture of Vorenta would restore the competitive constraint provided by Vorenta on E&J (and vice versa) that would otherwise be lost following the merger, according to the report.

Next steps

The CMA outlined as part of its consultation that the proposed management buy-out would be “appropriate to remedy, mitigate or prevent the competition concerns identified in the [substantial lessening of competition] decision and form as comprehensive a solution to these concerns as is reasonable and practicable.”

The CMA is expected to accept the proposed undertakings, subject to no further responses to the consultation.

A deadline for comments for the consultation has been set as 26 April and any responses should be addressed to Carolina.Ricciardi@cma.gov.uk and Darren.Gysi@cma.gov.uk.