Washington, D.C. — In response to a joint Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice Request for Information (RFI) on serial acquisitions and roll-up strategies across the economy, the American Economic Liberties Project submitted a comment last week detailing harmful corporate and private equity roll-ups in the veterinary industry and recommending robust enforcement.

“Corporations and private equity firms are hiding in plain sight, quietly buying up veterinary practices across the country and inflating prices for people who want to care for their pets,” said Helaine Olen, Managing Editor at the American Economic Liberties Project. “As many dog and cat owners know, veterinary care prices have surged by 60 percent in the last decade. It’s not because these fast growing veterinary chains are providing better care. It’s because these newly-consolidated combinations are leveraging market power to squeeze more profits from pet owners. They are exploiting our love for our pets to even further enrich their bottom line, while, in some tragic cases, making it financially impossible for people to provide needed medical care to their four legged family members.”

“This industry is a prime example of how private equity ownership enriches Wall Street and private invetsors at the expense of our communities,” Olen continued. “With over 66% of US households owning a pet, the FTC and DOJ must use their authorities to stop these shadow monopolies before it’s too late.”

Economic Liberties’ comment focuses on the alarming consolidation of the veterinary industry by corporations and private equity firms, which now control somewhere between 30 to 50 percent of all veterinary clinics in the U.S, up from less than ten percent a little more than a decade ago. This rapid “roll-up” strategy, where smaller clinics are quietly purchased by large corporate groups, has resulted in significant price hikes for routine veterinary services—up to 100% in some cases—while reducing competition and service quality. Corporate and private equity-backed chains are also employing non-compete agreements to restrict veterinarians’ ability to practice freely, contributing to a national shortage of veterinary professionals and leaving pet owners with fewer options and higher bills.

To address these issues, the comment urges the agencies to use their authority under the Clayton and Robinson-Patman Acts to block harmful acquisitions and investigate anti-competitive behavior in the veterinary sector. The American Economic Liberties Project also recommends finalizing the proposed revisions to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act to ensure that regulators are able to identify and stop these serial acquisitions before they create unassailable monopolies. Additionally, the comment highlights the need for stronger enforcement of the FTC’s upcoming non-compete ban, which would help increase competition and mobility for veterinary workers.

Read the full comment here.

Read Olen’s April piece, “Why Your Vet Bill Is So High” in The Atlantic.

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.

###

The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.