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How much of Main Street private equity owns

18% of US veterinary practices belong to groups backed by private equity.

We read the websites of 16 veterinary groups and the nearly 1,200 hospital sites they list, counted each hospital once, took the stated size of the groups that don't list their hospitals, and compared both with the government's count of US veterinary practices.

The findings.

  1. Groups backed by private equity run 18% of US veterinary practices. 5.5% are in groups that list their hospitals, and the rest in groups that don't, counted at the size each one states.
  2. The three largest, NVA, Mission Pet Health and VetCor, don't list their hospitals. At the size each one states, together they run 7.8% of the country's veterinary practices.
  3. PetVet Care Centers is the largest group that lists its hospitals, with 384 in 39 states.
  4. Counting the groups that list their hospitals, the share is highest in New Hampshire, at 12%. Georgia, Massachusetts, Maryland and Tennessee follow, at 8.1% to 9.4%.
  5. Groups backed by private equity have hospitals in 49 states.
  6. Mars, the family-owned company behind VCA, Banfield and BluePearl, isn't private equity, so its hospitals aren't in these shares.
A veterinarian's hands examining a white kitten on the exam table, a stethoscope beside it

Who owns the most veterinary practices.

At its stated size, NVA runs 2.7% of US veterinary practices. PetVet Care Centers, the largest group that lists its hospitals, runs 1.0%.

  1. NVA (National Veterinary Associates): 2.7%, at the size it statesJAB Consumer Partners
  2. Mission Pet Health: 2.6%, at the size it statesShore Capital Partners and Silver Lake
  3. VetCor: 2.5%, at the size it statesOak Hill Capital, Harvest Partners and Cressey & Company
  4. PetVet Care Centers: 1.0%KKR
  5. Western Veterinary Partners: 0.9%, at the size it statesTyree & D'Angelo Partners
  6. Thrive Pet Healthcare: 0.9%TSG Consumer Partners
  7. Heartland Veterinary Partners: 0.8%, at the size it statesGryphon Investors
  8. Alliance Animal Health: 0.7%L Catterton
  9. CareVet: 0.6%, at the size it statesCompass Group Equity Partners
  10. AmeriVet Veterinary Partners: 0.6%AEA Investors
  11. Blue River PetCare: 0.5%, at the size it statesPrivate equity
  12. Veterinary Practice Partners: 0.5%, at the size it statesAudax Private Equity
  13. American Veterinary Group: 0.5%Private equity
  14. Community Veterinary Partners: 0.4%, at the size it statesPrivate equity
  15. Ethos Veterinary Health: 0.3%JAB Consumer Partners, through NVA
  16. Rarebreed Veterinary Partners: 0.3%, at the size it statesPrivate equity
  17. United Veterinary Care: 0.3%Nordic Capital
  18. GoodVets: 0.2%Private equity
  19. Innovetive Petcare: 0.2%Private equity
  20. Suveto: 0.2%Private equity
  21. Animal Dermatology Group: 0.2%Private equity
  22. Encore Vet Group: 0.1%Private equity
  23. VetEvolve: 0.1%Varsity Healthcare Partners
  24. EverVet Partners: 0.1%, at the size it statesPrivate equity
  25. Heart + Paw: 0.1%Private equity
  26. Hippo Veterinary Group: 0.1%Private equity investors, control not confirmed
  27. NVA Equine: 0.1%, at the size it statesJAB Consumer Partners
  28. Lovet Pet Health Care: 0.1%, at the size it statesPrivate equity
  29. Sploot Veterinary Care: 0.0%Private equity investors, control not confirmed

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Where private equity owns the most veterinary practices.

New Hampshire leads at 12%, then Georgia, Massachusetts, Maryland and Tennessee at 8.1% to 9.4%.

  1. ALAlabama: 3.5%
  2. AKAlaska: Fewer than 100 veterinary practices
  3. AZArizona: 6.3%
  4. ARArkansas: 7.7%
  5. CACalifornia: 6.3%
  6. COColorado: 5.8%
  7. CTConnecticut: 6.7%
  8. DEDelaware: Fewer than 100 veterinary practices
  9. DCDistrict of Columbia: Fewer than 100 veterinary practices
  10. FLFlorida: 6.8%
  11. GAGeorgia: 9.4%
  12. HIHawaii: 3.5%
  13. IDIdaho: 1.8%
  14. ILIllinois: 4.9%
  15. INIndiana: 3.4%
  16. IAIowa: 1.2%
  17. KSKansas: 3.1%
  18. KYKentucky: 4.6%
  19. LALouisiana: 3.9%
  20. MEMaine: 1.7%
  21. MDMaryland: 8.1%
  22. MAMassachusetts: 9.2%
  23. MIMichigan: 2.5%
  24. MNMinnesota: 1.7%
  25. MSMississippi: 7.1%
  26. MOMissouri: 2.6%
  27. MTMontana: 0.0%
  28. NENebraska: 4.3%
  29. NVNevada: 5.9%
  30. NHNew Hampshire: 12%
  31. NJNew Jersey: 6.8%
  32. NMNew Mexico: 5.7%
  33. NYNew York: 7.7%
  34. NCNorth Carolina: 6.7%
  35. NDNorth Dakota: Fewer than 100 veterinary practices
  36. OHOhio: 4.1%
  37. OKOklahoma: 2.4%
  38. OROregon: 3.4%
  39. PAPennsylvania: 4.5%
  40. RIRhode Island: 8.1%
  41. SCSouth Carolina: 7.3%
  42. SDSouth Dakota: 0.6%
  43. TNTennessee: 8.1%
  44. TXTexas: 4.9%
  45. UTUtah: 4.1%
  46. VTVermont: 5.1%
  47. VAVirginia: 5.8%
  48. WAWashington: 5.9%
  49. WVWest Virginia: 4.5%
  50. WIWisconsin: 2.8%
  51. WYWyoming: 1.7%

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The data.

We counted the locations on October 15, 2026.

Groups and owners (CSV)States (CSV)
Questions

How much of the veterinary industry does private equity own?

Groups backed by private equity run 18% of US veterinary practices. 5.5% are in groups that list their hospitals, and the rest in groups that don't, counted at the size each one states.

What is the largest private equity veterinary group?

NVA, which at its stated size runs 2.7% of US veterinary practices. PetVet Care Centers is the largest group that lists its hospitals, with 1.0%.

Is NVA owned by private equity?

NVA belongs to JAB Consumer Partners, a fund of the investment firm JAB that takes money from outside investors, so it counts as private equity here. Without NVA and Ethos, its specialty and emergency hospitals, the share would be 15%.

Who owns VCA and Banfield?

Mars, the family-owned company best known for candy and pet food, owns VCA, Banfield and BluePearl. It isn't private equity, so their hospitals aren't in these shares.

How does this compare with other estimates?

Industry reporting puts corporate owners of every kind, Mars included, at about a quarter of US general practices and three quarters of specialty and emergency hospitals (VIN News, 2023). The share here counts private equity alone, across every kind of practice.

Why do some groups count at their stated size?

Some of the largest groups, NVA, Mission Pet Health and VetCor among them, keep each hospital's own name and don't list their hospitals anywhere we could read. They count at the size each one states and are shown apart. Mission's count includes pet resorts and VetCor's includes its hospitals in Canada, so the share with stated sizes runs a little high.

Who owns NVA?

JAB Consumer Partners owns NVA. By its own count it has 1,000 hospitals.

Who owns Mission Pet Health?

Shore Capital Partners and Silver Lake own Mission Pet Health. By its own count it has 970 locations, pet resorts and urgent care clinics included.

Who owns VetCor?

Oak Hill Capital, Harvest Partners and Cressey & Company own VetCor. By its own count it has 900 locations in the US and Canada.

Who owns PetVet Care Centers?

KKR owns PetVet Care Centers. Its websites list 384 hospitals.

Who owns Western Veterinary Partners?

Tyree & D'Angelo Partners owns Western Veterinary Partners. By its own count it has 325 hospitals.

Who owns Thrive Pet Healthcare?

TSG Consumer Partners owns Thrive Pet Healthcare. Its websites list 321 hospitals.

Who owns Heartland Veterinary Partners?

Gryphon Investors owns Heartland Veterinary Partners. By its own count it has 300 practices.

Who owns Alliance Animal Health?

L Catterton owns Alliance Animal Health. Its websites list 257 hospitals.

Every group
GroupBrandsOwnerLocationsShare
NVA (National Veterinary Associates)JAB Consumer Partners1,000 stated2.7%
Mission Pet HealthShore Capital Partners and Silver Lake970 stated2.6%
VetCorOak Hill Capital, Harvest Partners and Cressey & Company900 stated2.5%
PetVet Care CentersKKR3841.0%
Western Veterinary PartnersTyree & D'Angelo Partners325 stated0.9%
Thrive Pet Healthcare321 practicesTSG Consumer Partners3210.9%
Heartland Veterinary PartnersGryphon Investors300 stated0.8%
Alliance Animal Health225 practicesL Catterton2570.7%
CareVetCompass Group Equity Partners220 stated0.6%
AmeriVet Veterinary PartnersAEA Investors2120.6%
Blue River PetCarePrivate equity200 stated0.5%
Veterinary Practice PartnersAudax Private Equity200 stated0.5%
American Veterinary Group187 practicesPrivate equity1870.5%
Community Veterinary PartnersPrivate equity150 stated0.4%
Ethos Veterinary HealthJAB Consumer Partners, through NVA1250.3%
Rarebreed Veterinary PartnersPrivate equity118 stated0.3%
United Veterinary CareNordic Capital1010.3%
GoodVets26 practicesPrivate equity880.2%
Innovetive Petcare68 practicesPrivate equity740.2%
Suveto67 practicesPrivate equity670.2%
Animal Dermatology GroupPrivate equity650.2%
Encore Vet Group52 practicesPrivate equity520.1%
VetEvolve47 practicesVarsity Healthcare Partners500.1%
EverVet PartnersPrivate equity35 stated0.1%
Heart + PawPrivate equity310.1%
Hippo Veterinary Group26 practicesPrivate equity investors, control not confirmed290.1%
NVA EquineJAB Consumer Partners25 stated0.1%
Lovet Pet Health CarePrivate equity23 stated0.1%
Sploot Veterinary CarePrivate equity investors, control not confirmed110.0%
Every state
StateEstablishmentsPrivate equityShare
Alabama662233.5%
Alaska774Fewer than 100 veterinary practices
Arizona731466.3%
Arkansas352277.7%
California3,7692396.3%
Colorado946555.8%
Connecticut390266.7%
Delaware931Fewer than 100 veterinary practices
District of Columbia604Fewer than 100 veterinary practices
Florida2,9211986.8%
Georgia1,1731109.4%
Hawaii14253.5%
Idaho32561.8%
Illinois1,159574.9%
Indiana710243.4%
Iowa50961.2%
Kansas483153.1%
Kentucky637294.6%
Louisiana558223.9%
Maine23641.7%
Maryland628518.1%
Massachusetts631589.2%
Michigan1,021262.5%
Minnesota657111.7%
Mississippi309227.1%
Missouri765202.6%
Montana23400.0%
Nebraska323144.3%
Nevada273165.9%
New Hampshire2212712%
New Jersey766526.8%
New Mexico209125.7%
New York1,4841157.7%
North Carolina1,383936.7%
North Dakota900Fewer than 100 veterinary practices
Ohio1,241514.1%
Oklahoma584142.4%
Oregon612213.4%
Pennsylvania1,342614.5%
Rhode Island11198.1%
South Carolina604447.3%
South Dakota16010.6%
Tennessee826678.1%
Texas3,2981624.9%
Utah292124.1%
Vermont11865.1%
Virginia1,060615.8%
Washington831495.9%
West Virginia17884.5%
Wisconsin716202.8%
Wyoming11821.7%
How we did it

On October 15, 2026 we read each group's own list of its hospitals, its location finder or its hospital pages, then each hospital's website: its home page and the locations and contact pages it links to. Jev, a model from TypeSafe that answers questions about text with a probability, read the pages: which links on a group's list lead to its hospitals, whether a site is a veterinary practice, and which lines give the address of one of its own hospitals, one line per address. Each hospital counts once, even when two sites list it. Hospitals a practice refers clients to don't count, and neither do pet resorts, grooming-only sites or hospitals not yet open. Code fetched the pages and did the counting.

Review agents then checked Jev's work without seeing its answers. They agreed on the kind of business for 101 of 103 sites. Of the 291 practices and hospital pages they recounted, 242 matched exactly and 290 were within one hospital. On the groups' location finders they counted 947 hospitals to Jev's 948. Where a reviewer and Jev differed, the reviewed answer is used.

1,165 hospital sites were listed. We read 1,149 of them. 16 refused our crawler or didn't answer, and each of those counts as one hospital in the state its group's list gives. Hospitals outside the US aren't counted.

A group counts as backed by private equity when a dated source names a private equity fund as its owner or lead investor, even when the size of the stake isn't published. NVA counts: it belongs to JAB Consumer Partners, a JAB fund with outside investors. Groups where private equity holds a minority stake, such as MedVet and Lakefield, or where control isn't confirmed are listed apart. Venture-backed groups, public companies and Mars, which owns VCA, Banfield and BluePearl, aren't counted as private equity.

Groups that don't list their hospitals count at the size each one states and are shown apart. Mission Pet Health's stated count includes pet resorts and urgent care clinics, and VetCor's includes its hospitals in Canada, so the share with stated sizes runs a little high.

The number of veterinary practices is the Bureau of Labor Statistics count of private establishments with employees for the first quarter of 2026, 36,732 (NAICS 541940, veterinary services). A state's count is the larger of that count and the Census Bureau's 2023 County Business Patterns count (Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming use the first count only).

The counted share is a floor. Groups we didn't find, and hospitals a group's site doesn't list, aren't in it. The full method

Cite this page

Fulkerson Advisors (2026). Who Owns US Veterinary practices: Private Equity's Share, October 2026. https://www.fulkersonadvisors.com/research/private-equity-ownership/veterinary-practices

Use any of these numbers or charts. Credit Fulkerson Advisors and link to this page. The data is under a CC BY 4.0 license.