How cash-strapped pet owners are unwittingly lining the pockets of ‘baby-faced’ billionaire as vet bills soar
PET owners paying record costs for vet treatment are lining the pockets of a billionaire known as the “baby-faced assassin”.
Norwegian Christian Sinding runs the company which owns IVC Evidensia — the UK’s biggest chain of vet practices and one of several firms this week implicated in a row over rocketing prices.
As owners face increasingly unaffordable bills, IVC’s UK revenues have soared from £834million in 2020 to £1.2billion in 2022.
IVC Evidensia is the largest of six firms identified in a report published this week by the Competition and Markets Authority which cited “multiple concerns” and announced a major investigation.
CMA chief exec Sarah Cardell noted that there were “incentives for large corporate groups to act in ways which may reduce competition and choice”.
And Britain’s pet lovers are paying the price.
Lisa Johnson, from Wilmslow, Cheshire, said she noticed big price hikes after the practice she had used for 20 years was bought out by IVC.
Seven billionaires
Mum-of-two Lisa, who runs a skincare business and is married to Paul, 50, has three rescue poodles, Dudley, Louis and Marshall, plus hamsters and guinea pigs.
She said: “After our mortgage and bills, half of my income is going on vet bills.
“Dudley, who’s eight, had some dental work done three years ago before the buy-out, which involved anaesthetic, taking bloods, cleaning and tooth removal, which came to £400.
“He needs his teeth doing again now and I’ve been quoted around £600.
“Anything else and the bill will soar closer to £1,000.
“Consultation fees — literally just walking in for a quick chat — have gone up from £35 to £60.
“Last week I had to pay £88 for a five-minute consultation for Louis’s bad back, including some basic anti-inflammatories.
“We’re struggling with utility bills, and food prices. I feel we’re being taken advantage of because we are animal lovers and would never compromise on their health.”
The six companies named in the CMA report — CVS, IVC, Linnaeus, Medivet, Pets At Home and VetPartners — already own 2,869 of Britain’s 4,920 vet surgeries, chasing a market worth more than £2billion a year.
I feel we’re being taken advantage of because we are animal lovers and would never compromise on their health
Lisa Johnson
Meanwhile, the number of locally owned independent practices has plunged from 89 per cent to just 45 per cent in the eight years to 2021.
Of the six big players IVC, which also operates in Europe, is by far the largest, with 1,018 UK practices, more than double the number owned by any other company.
Secretive Sinding, 51, whose nickname stems from a combination of his boyish looks and business skills, lives with his American wife and two children on Zurich’s Gold Coast, where properties sell for an average of £4million to £6.5million.
He has turned EQT — the Swedish private equity group which owns IVC Evidensia — into one of the world’s fastest-growing firms, owning some 300 companies which employ around 700,000 people.
On top of his Zurich pad, where he has lived since 2013, Sinding has a coastal summer house in Fredrikstad, Oslo, where he owns two adjoining £2million properties.
He recently sold a home in Bygdoy, Norway, for £3million.
Sinding admits he doesn’t “like to talk” about his vast wealth.
And his colleagues are not short of cash either — EQT’s success has created seven billionaires.
There are no golfing partners at EQT. So if you start to sit back, buy a place in Spain and start playing golf, you are no longer a partner here
Christian Sinding
But Sinding, who has little to do with the day-to-day running of IVC Evidensia, insists: “There are no golfing partners at EQT.
“So if you start to sit back, buy a place in Spain and start playing golf, you are no longer a partner here.”
His is one of several chains which stand accused of buying up small, struggling vet surgeries then hiking prices while failing to fully inform customers about costs and alternative treatments.
Three of the six, including IVC, are owned by private equity firms, who tend to borrow to fund takeovers then force the business to repay the interest.
Industry experts fear these charges are being passed on to pet owners in higher treatment costs.
Average bills for the UK’s 17million pet owners have shot up by 24 per cent in the five years to 2022.
‘Money-grabbers’
Sue Davies, head of consumer protection at Which? said pet owners were often left facing “eye-watering” bills.
One cat owner was quoted £188.96 for a constipation powder he claimed cost a fraction of the price over the counter, plus £36.89 for a two-minute phone call.
Vet Dr Alex Crow, from Nottingham, said: “I hear every week about another long-time local vet getting bought up by one of the big corporate chains.
“I’ve seen records where an office visit cost 15 per cent more at a corporate clinic compared to a small private one.”
The CMA report revealed that some vet practices make around 25 per cent of their revenue from selling medicine, much of which can be bought cheaper elsewhere.
And it found the lack of competition caused by the big chains put customers at risk of overpaying.
Liverpool vet Dr Daisy May believes the loss of the family vet practice is also affecting care.
She said: “Independent vets are better able to tailor services and payments to individuals, an aspect critical to pet health.”
The major chains are seeing their profits soar.
Independent vets are better able to tailor services and payments to individuals, an aspect critical to pet health
Dr Daisy May
CVS posted a 50 per cent increase in pre-tax profit to £54million last year, while its top three execs pocketed almost £4million in total, with boss Richard Fairman taking home £1.7million.
Pets At Home made a £122million pre-tax profit last year and said its vets businesses, made up of Companion Care and Vets4Pets, were a “significant value creation opportunity”.
Medivet, which has 470 UK vet practices, was snapped up in a deal worth more than £1billion by private equity firm CVC in 2021, while VetPartners, with 350 clinics, was bought for £720million by BC Partners in 2018.
Dr Anna Judson, president of the British Veterinary Association, insisted vets were not “moneygrabbers”.
She said: “Fees have increased due to factors including rising inflation, shortages in the workforce and medical advances.
“Practices need to charge appropriately for services to ensure they remain financially sustainable.”
An IVC Evidensia spokesman said earlier tonight: “We have always sought to ensure our pricing is appropriate, fair and competitive and inform customers before any cost is incurred for any treatment.”
EQT declined to comment on Mr Sinding’s wealth and property portfolio.