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(Reuters) – Pets at Home Group said on Tuesday it had sold five specialist referral practices to veterinary company Linnaeus Group for 100 million pounds ($133.84 million) in cash, as it looks to focus on its customer-facing businesses.
The disposal of the specialist referral centres, which provide medicine and surgery for the most complex cases, including neurosurgery and oncology for pets, is expected to close in the first-quarter of 2021.
The divestment comes as Pets at Home bought veterinary telehealth services provider The Vet Connection for 15 million pounds on Monday, looking to cash in on remote consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company operates 451 retail stores, which offer pets, grooming services and insurance products, as well as veterinary operations, including 440 First Opinion veterinary practices that refer pets with complex health cases to specialist centres.
Last week, it warned of an uncertain outlook in the initial weeks of a fresh UK lockdown, even as it said operations had continued to perform well in the current quarter on sustained demand for dog food, cat litter and flea collars.
The sale amount of 100 million pounds includes 80 million pounds on deal completion and a deferred cash payment of 20 million pounds based on certain financial milestones.
Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi
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