What Is My Veterinary Practice Worth in 2026?

Veterinary practice M&A in 2026 still sits at one of the most attractive valuation points in the lower middle market — but it is no longer the frenzied auction of 2021-2022. Multiples have moderated, deal structures have evolved, and buyers are scrutinizing what they pay for harder than they did three years ago. For owners who have built a real practice with EBITDA depth and DVM bench, the bid environment is still excellent. For owner-DVMs running on personal production with no associate coverage, the multiple compression is real.

Who this is for

This guide is for veterinary practice owners doing $750K-$10M in revenue who are within 1-3 years of a sale, plus owner-DVMs thinking about associate-buyer transitions. The valuation drivers that move the multiple at exit are the same ones that drive enterprise value during operating years, so even if a sale is several years away the levers below are worth attacking now.

How is a veterinary practice valued in 2026?

Veterinary M&A uses adjusted EBITDA almost universally for practices above roughly $500K of EBITDA — meaning EBITDA with normalized DVM compensation (a buyer will assume a market-rate DVM salary for any associate hours the owner currently covers personally), removed owner-perk add-backs, and one-time expense adjustments. Below $500K of EBITDA, individual DVM buyers and SBA-financed transactions tend to use SDE (seller's discretionary earnings), and multiples sit at 5.0x-7.0x SDE.

Three factors drive multiple more than anything else: revenue per FTE DVM (high producers signal demand and pricing power; the platforms look for $800K-$1.2M+ per FTE DVM in 2026), real DVM bench beyond the owner (a practice where the owner produces 60%+ of revenue is fundamentally less transferable than one where the owner is one of three or four producers), and facility quality (modern, fully-equipped practices with dental, surgery, in-house lab and digital radiology trade at materially higher multiples than older, equipment-light practices).

Working capital is typically left in the practice; trucks, mobile equipment, and ongoing supply inventory transfer as-is. Real estate is almost always separated — the buyer takes the operating business and either rents from the seller (very common structure, NNN leases at market rates) or buys the real estate separately at a real-estate cap rate of 6%-8%.

What multiples are veterinary practices selling for in 2026?

The market segments into four tiers right now. Owner-DVM small practices under $500K SDE clear 5.0x-7.0x SDE, primarily to individual DVM buyers using SBA 7(a) financing — these transactions look more like succession deals than M&A and close in 4-6 months. Regional roll-up groups building practice clusters of 3-10 locations are paying 8.0x-10.0x EBITDA, typically for practices in the $500K-$1.5M EBITDA range. PE-backed platforms (PetVet Care Centers, MedVet, Veritas Veterinary Partners) hit 10x-14x for platform-quality acquisitions, usually with 15%-30% rollover equity expected. Corporate consolidators — Mars Veterinary (VCA, Banfield, BluePearl), NVA (KKR), Pathway Vet Alliance, Thrive Pet Healthcare (TSG Consumer Partners) — pay 12x-16x for strategic fits, with the high end reserved for practices that fit a specific geographic, specialty, or referral-network gap.

The platform-quality threshold matters. Below $1M of adjusted EBITDA, you are mostly competing for regional roll-up and PE-platform attention; above $1M, the corporate consolidators engage seriously and the multiple jumps. Above $2.5M of EBITDA you are in true platform territory where multiple bidders compete head-to-head.

Who's buying veterinary practices in 2026?

The corporate consolidator tier is dominated by Mars Veterinary (VCA, Banfield, BluePearl combined — over 2,000+ U.S. locations), NVA (1,400+ locations, KKR-backed), Pathway Vet Alliance, and Thrive Pet Healthcare (TSG Consumer Partners, 380+ locations). These groups have been the most active buyers since 2018 and continue to buy in 2026, though with somewhat tighter underwriting than the 2021-2022 peak.

The PE platform tier includes PetVet Care Centers, MedVet (Pet Specialists Alliance), Veritas Veterinary Partners, Veterinary Innovative Partners, CityVet, Innovetive Petcare, and Heart + Paw — all are actively writing checks. CVS Group's U.S. assets are an open question on direction but worth flagging as a potential buyer in the right specialty fits. IVC Evidensia continues to be active globally though their U.S. activity has been measured.

The regional roll-up tier — independent groups consolidating 3-10 practices in a specific metro or state — has grown faster than any other buyer category since 2023. These are often physician-owned or independent-sponsor-backed groups that pay 8x-10x EBITDA and tend to be more flexible on deal structure than the corporates.

The fourth tier — individual DVM buyers using SBA financing — accounts for the majority of transaction COUNT (not dollar volume) and dominates everything under $500K of SDE.

What makes a veterinary practice worth more?

DVM bench depth is the single largest lever. A practice where the owner produces 30% or less of revenue, supported by 2-4 associate DVMs and a stable management team, trades 2.0x-3.0x higher than the same revenue practice where the owner is the rainmaker. Buyers will discount aggressively when owner-dependence is high because every consolidator has learned the hard way what happens when the rainmaker walks 12 months after close.

Revenue per DVM FTE is second. The platforms target $800K-$1.2M+ per FTE DVM as the underwriting baseline; practices significantly below that benchmark get questioned on demand, pricing, or both. High-producing DVMs are a signal of pricing power and market demand.

Facility and equipment quality matter more in vet than in most service businesses. A modern, recently-renovated practice with digital radiography, in-house lab (CBC, chem, urinalysis), dedicated surgery, dental suite, and adequate exam-room count trades materially higher than an older, equipment-light practice — the buyer is pricing in the avoided capex.

For an in-depth look at related healthcare practice valuations and how DVM/MD compensation normalization affects multiple, see our 2026 dental practice valuation analysis — the structural dynamics inside vet are very similar to multi-doctor dental.

What hurts veterinary practice valuations in 2026?

Owner-DVM dependency is the fastest way to lose multiple. If you personally produce 60%+ of revenue and there is no real associate bench, no platform is paying you a corporate-tier multiple. Geographic isolation is similar — practices in metro markets with strong demographics command higher multiples than rural practices, even with identical financials, because the buyer's pricing power and DVM recruiting are easier in the metro.

Equipment age and facility condition are real value drags — every $100K of avoided capex by the buyer comes out of the multiple. Sloppy compensation structure (paying associate DVMs above market, owners taking under-market salaries with the difference going through perks) shows up immediately in normalized EBITDA and frustrates buyers in diligence.

How long does it take to sell a veterinary practice?

For a clean lower-middle-market vet practice, plan on 6 to 12 months engagement to wire. That breaks down roughly as: 4-6 weeks of preparation including normalized comp analysis, DVM contracts, and Quality of Earnings if appropriate; 6-8 weeks of buyer outreach and initial bids; 8-10 weeks of buyer diligence including chart audits and DVM interviews; 6-10 weeks LOI to close. Larger transactions involving rollover equity negotiations and complex earn-out structures run on the longer end. Owner-DVM SBA transactions tend to run 4-6 months end-to-end because the diligence is simpler.

For benchmarks on related healthcare practice multiples and how chart audits run during diligence, our 2026 dermatology practice valuation guide walks through the parallel structure inside medical practices.