CEO Gregory Hartmann and Senior NVA Management Team to Maintain
Significant Ownership and Lead the Business
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.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190617005249/en/
For Ares:
Media:
Mendel Communications
Bill
Mendel, 212-397-1030
[email protected]
or
Investors:
Carl
Drake, 800-340-6597
[email protected]
or
Priscila
Roney, 212-808-1185
[email protected]
For
JAB:
Abernathy MacGregor
Tom Johnson/Pat Tucker
+1
212-371-5999
[email protected]/[email protected]
For
NVA:
Laura Koester
+1 310-292-8431
[email protected]
Source: Ares Management Corporation
