LOS ANGELES & LUXEMBOURG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) and JAB Investors today announced that a fund managed by the Private Equity Group of Ares and its minority partner, OMERS Private Equity, have signed a definitive agreement to sell National Veterinary Associates (“NVA”), one of the largest veterinary and pet care services organizations in the world, to JAB Investors. NVA’s senior management team, including CEO Greg Hartmann, will maintain a significant minority ownership and will continue to lead the business with their deep and personal commitment to the profession. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded more than 22 years ago, NVA offers a full range of veterinary services in more than 670 companion animal veterinary hospitals and 70 pet resorts across 43 states in the United States, as well as in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. As part of its mission, NVA believes that veterinary medicine is best practiced when veterinarians craft their own approach to best serve the needs of their local communities. Toward that end, NVA provides cutting edge tools and resources for its veterinarians to deliver the most advanced high-quality care and client services.
JAB Investors is comprised of JAB Consumer Fund (“JCF”), which will be investing the majority of the equity capital in the transaction as part of its investment strategy in the pet care industry, and JAB Holding Company (“JAB”), which will invest alongside JCF.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to have partnered with NVA’s outstanding management team,” said Bennett Rosenthal, Co-Founder, Partner and Co-Head of the Private Equity Group of Ares Management. “We are proud to have supported the company during its significant growth over the past five years as it extended its reach outside the US, accelerated its acquisitions, invested in new pet segments such as pet resorts, and became the largest independent veterinary platform globally. We want to thank OMERS Private Equity for their partnership on NVA and we wish the NVA team and its animal care teams continued success.”
“I want to thank the Ares Private Equity team and OMERS for their outstanding partnership as we entered into new pet care lines including boarding and daycare, specialty and ER animal care, aftercare, equine, and expansion into several new countries,” said Greg Hartmann, CEO of NVA. “Moving forward, we feel JAB Investors will be a great partner for us as we focus on our next phase of growth. They are strong supporters of our mission of providing progressive and compassionate care. They share our belief that the best veterinary care is created by supporting and empowering our animal care teams in their local communities. As an organization, we strive to be a positive reflection of the profession we serve, and JAB Investors recognizes and joins us in that commitment.”
“NVA is a world-class organization led by one of the best teams in the industry,” said David Bell, Partner at JAB Investors. “The company’s core strategic objective to support and invest in veterinarians and animal care teams, combined with its high-performance culture, has created an ecosystem which attracts exceptional people to provide the very highest level of veterinary care. We are excited to partner with the NVA community for the long-term as they continue building a global platform and leading the industry in innovation and quality of service.”
Jefferies LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor to NVA and William Blair & Company, L.L.C. acted as an advisor to the selling shareholders in the transaction.
About Ares Management Corporation
Ares Management Corporation is a publicly traded, leading global alternative asset manager with approximately $137 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2019 and 18 offices in the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia. Since its inception in 1997, Ares has adhered to a disciplined investment philosophy that focuses on delivering strong risk-adjusted investment returns throughout market cycles. Ares believes each of its three distinct but complementary investment groups in Credit, Private Equity and Real Estate is a market leader based on assets under management and investment performance. Ares was built upon the fundamental principle that each group benefits from being part of the greater whole. For more information, visit www.aresmgmt.com.
About JAB Investors
JAB Investors consists of JAB Consumer Fund and JAB Holding Company, both of which are jointly managed by the same group of managing partners, and invests in consumer-focused industries with attractive long-term dynamics, including strong growth prospects, attractive margin and cash flow characteristics, and proven resiliency. Together, JAB Consumer Fund and JAB Holding Company have controlling stakes in Keurig Dr Pepper, a leader in the North American beverage market, Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE), the largest pure-play FMCG coffee company in the world, Panera Bread, a leading bakery-cafe company, Pret A Manger, a leading company in the ready-to-eat food market, Peet's Coffee & Tea, a premier specialty coffee and tea company, Caribou Coffee Company, a specialty retailer of high-quality premium coffee products, Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Inc., the leader in the North-American bagel category, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, a global leader in doughnuts and other premium-quality sweet treats, and in Espresso House, the largest branded coffee shop chain in Scandinavia, and Compassion First, a family of well-known and respected specialty, emergency and general practice veterinary hospitals across the United States.
JAB Holding Company is also the largest shareholder in Coty Inc., a global leader in beauty, and owns a controlling stake in luxury goods company Bally. For more information, please visit the company's website at: http://www.jabholco.com.
About NVA
NVA is one of the largest veterinary and pet care services organizations in the world. NVA partners with over 700 general practice hospitals, specialty + ER hospitals, equine hospitals, and pet resorts in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. NVA’s 14,000 team members and 2,600 veterinarians are united by a common purpose – a love for animals and the people who love them – and a common mission – to improve the comfort and well-being of animals by providing progressive and compassionate care. NVA’s veterinarians and animal care professionals provide a full range of medical and surgical services. Their local hospital and pet resort leaders embody the entrepreneurial spirit in which NVA was created. For more information, visit www.nva.com.
About OMERS and OMERS Private Equity
Founded in 1962, OMERS is one of Canada’s largest defined benefit pension plans, with more than C$97 billion in net assets, as at December 31, 2018. OMERS invests and administers pensions for nearly a half a million members through originating and managing a diversified portfolio of investments in public markets, private equity, infrastructure and real estate.
OMERS had private equity net investment asset exposure of C$14.2 billion as at December 31, 2018. OMERS Private Equity, the private equity investment arm of OMERS with a team of investment professionals in London, New York, Singapore and Toronto, seeks to use its significant and differentiated capital base to partner with management teams of industry leading businesses. For more information, please visit www.omersprivateequity.com.
