National Veterinary Associates said to be exploring potential sale

Reuters is reporting that National Veterinary Associates (NVA), one of the largest private owners of freestanding veterinary hospitals in the United States, is exploring a potential sale.

Apparently, Summit Partners, a private equity firm that backs NVA, has hired investment bank Jefferies to find a buyer for the company, said to be valued at close to $700 million.

NVA, based in California, owns more than 225 companion animal veterinary hospitals in 39 states. According to its website, approximately 4,000 veterinary professionals—including 800 veterinarians—are employed at NVA-owned hospitals. According to Reuters, after Summit Partners’ first investment of $128 million in the veterinary company in 2007, NVA now “has earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of roughly $60 million, and could be sold for roughly 10 to 11 times that amount.”

The company was founded in 1996 by Stanley Creighton, DVM, DACVIM, who served as its CEO from 1996 to 2009. Harvard Business School graduate Gregory Hartmann is now president and CEO.