02/11/2022
Specialists from national law firm Bevan Brittan and leading Yorkshire advisory firm; BHP Corporate Finance have advised an East Midlands-based producer of soft chews for pets on its acquisition by a Swedish business, which was announced to the stock exchange yesterday.
Leicestershire business Custom Vet Products (CVP) has been acquired by major European animal health product firm Swedencare AB in a deal valued at more than £10m in total.
CVP, which has its headquarters in Shepshed and sells its products predominantly through veterinary practices in the UK and some European countries, has recently increased its manufacturing capabilities
It will continue to be led by current Managing Director David Ryder in the UK, alongside the existing management team, but will be renamed Vetio UK.
Announcing the deal to the stock exchange, Swedencare said the addition of CVP to its business would give it a strong presence in the manufacturing and development market in the UK and Europe.
Christian Hunt, corporate partner in Bevan Brittan’s Leeds office, said the transaction was also a strong outcome for CVP and its team in Leicestershire, giving them a new platform from which to grow their business.
“It’s been fantastic to support CVP on this transaction and to see first-hand the excellent strategic fit between this business and Swedencare. It represents an exciting opportunity for further growth and development in the UK and Europe and I look forward to working with them on their future plans,” he said.
“It is a transaction which shows that, if you have a good product and good offering, you can still get successful deals done and achieve full value even in challenging market conditions.”
Andy Haigh, partner at BHP Corporate Finance, said: “I am really pleased that we were able to support and advise David and the CVP shareholders on the company’s successful sale to Swedencare. It is another great example of our execution capability in cross-border transactions.
“Animal health is an exciting growth market and I fully expect CVP to thrive under Swedencare’s ownership – it is a great home for the business to develop and grow.”
David Ryder said: "In recent months we have already started collaborating with some Swedencare subsidiaries. I firmly believe that the opportunity of being a part of Swedencare will provide superb synergy and bring fantastic opportunities to expand more rapidly into the UK and European Markets.
“Swedencare’s proven international leadership, ethos and expertise directly in our area is something we are really excited about being a part of. We look forward to maximising future growth by making superb products for our partners and customers.”
Håkan Lagerberg, CEO of Swedencare, said: “Through the acquisition of CVP, we can accelerate our plans to launch soft chews on the European markets. This will both help us to add new products to our existing brands fast and also enable us to facilitate a European launch for some of our important US-based private label and contract manufacturing customers.
“David and his team have done a fantastic job and have a unique competence in developing soft chews. Together with our own competences from Vetio and Garmon we are creating an important player for the European soft chew market. CVP will be renamed VetioUK as the first entity in Europe for Vetio which now means that we have own manufacturing on both continents.”
Bevan Brittan’s team advising CVP comprised corporate finance experts Christian Hunt and solicitor Briar Streight, with the firm also providing employment and property advice.
BHP Corporate Finance’s deal execution team, comprising Andy Haigh and Tim Brind, worked with Alison Barnes from the SPA advisory team alongside Tom Roseff and Ryan Wilkinson from BHP LLP’s transaction tax advisory department to deliver a fully integrated service for the shareholders of CVP.
