A veterinary practice’s valuation can affect every major transaction decision, from selling to bringing in a partner to buying into ownership. If you don’t start with a reliable number, you risk leaving money on the table or accepting unfair terms. Even if you’re years away from selling or reviewing a buy-in offer, understanding what your practice is worth gives you greater control now. It sets the tone for future negotiations and helps you protect your long-term interests. Here’s what you need to know about veterinary practice valuation and why it matters.

Veterinary Practice Valuation Trends

Whether you’re preparing to sell your veterinary clinic, buy an existing practice, or explore a merger, current market data can help you set realistic expectations. Below are some data from the 2025 AVMA Economic Report and a recent Veterinary Market Update from the Ackerman Group about the financial and market factors influencing veterinary practice valuation today:

  • Multiples Are Holding: Many practices still sell for 9x to 13x EBITDA, but buyer due diligence has increased, especially when growth is driven more by price than volume.
  • Larger Practices Command Higher Multiples: Buyers are willing to pay premium valuations (often 12x to 15x EBITDA) for practices with strong financials, multiple veterinarians, and over $1M in revenue.
  • Up-Front Cash Remains High In Many Deals: In Q1 2025, up-front cash made up 71 percent of total deal value, reflecting strong buyer confidence in established practices.
  • Limited Supply Keeps Valuations High: High-performing practices (those with 3–4+ DVMs and $750K+ EBITDA) are scarce, which supports continued strong multiples despite economic headwinds.
  • Private Equity Demand Persists: Consolidators are still active but are targeting multi-doctor, high-revenue clinics in affluent urban and suburban markets.

The Rise of Corporate Consolidation in Veterinary Medicine

Large corporate buyers have changed how deals get done in veterinary medicine. They often pay higher multiples than individual buyers, but those offers come with strings attached, like earn-outs, restructured roles, or heavy non-compete clauses. 

These groups now dominate parts of the market, which makes it more difficult for individual owners to know what a fair price looks like. Their presence also drives up expectations in a way that leads some owners to expect prices their practices can’t realistically command. If you don’t understand how corporate consolidation could affect your practice’s value, you might accept too little or hold out for too much.

Common Valuation Approaches (and Their Pitfalls)

When you sell, invest in, or buy a veterinary practice, you need a clear and realistic view of what the business is worth. But not all valuation approaches use the same methods or make sense in every situation. Here are some common approaches and how they work:

  • EBITDA Multiples: Many buyers use a multiple of a practice’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) to estimate its value. But inflated add-backs or inconsistent accounting can throw the number off, especially if the seller tries to boost the multiple by excluding everyday expenses.
  • Discounted Cash Flow (DCF): This method tries to capture long-term earning potential by considering future cash flow and applying a discount rate to reflect risk. The problem? Small changes in projected growth or discount rates can shift valuations by hundreds of thousands of dollars. 
  • Asset-Based Valuation: This model sums up the fair market value of the business’s physical assets, like medical equipment, computers, and real estate. It works okay for underperforming or closing practices, but often undervalues thriving businesses by ignoring intangible assets like client loyalty and brand reputation.
  • Comparable Sales (Market Approach): Some brokers pull comps from recent sales of other practices in the area and use those deals to estimate a fair range. However, most of those comps aren’t public, and what little data exist often lack key details like adjusted earnings, deal terms, or post-sale performance.
  • “Rule of Thumb” Methods: You’ll sometimes hear shortcut rules like “x% of gross revenue” or “x times net income,” especially in informal talks or early-stage planning. They can offer quick gut checks, but they ignore major variables like profitability, client mix, staff stability, or the owner’s role in generating revenue.

No valuation method can tell the full story, and that can create risk during negotiations. A lawyer can help you review how a buyer or seller has applied their chosen method, flag weak assumptions, and push back on numbers that don’t line up with reality.

The Risks of DIY or Broker-Led Valuations

It’s easy to miss key details when you rely on a broker or try to value a practice yourself. Brokers might push inflated numbers to win your listing or favor one party if they represent both parties. DIY methods often miss critical factors like long-term lease obligations, employment contracts, or aging equipment. Some owners use outdated financials or assume goodwill will cover any shortfall. These mistakes can lead to deals that fall apart, or worse, close with unfair terms. If you’re not careful, you could base major decisions on numbers that don’t really add up.

The Role of a Veterinary Attorney in Purchase Price Negotiation

When you work with an experienced veterinary attorney to buy or sell a practice, you can count on them to look at more than just the sale price. They’ll look at how that price came together and how the deal might protect (or expose) you. 

If the buyer’s team applies unusual adjustments to earnings or overinflates the value of goodwill, your lawyer can challenge those points. If the terms of a deal include earn-outs or future performance milestones, your attorney can flag those risks and tighten the language. A lawyer can also help you set clear expectations about what happens if things go wrong after closing. 

Get Help from Our Full-Service Veterinary Law Firm

Ready to move forward with a sale, buy-in, or partnership? Mahan Law offers a free consultation to help you understand your options and protect your interests from the start. Founding attorney Anthony Mahan is a CVA, MBA, and practice owner who understands the veterinary industry inside and out. Let him address your concerns before you make a move.

Practice Valuation: What Should I Pay?

A veterinary practice’s valuation can affect every major transaction decision, from selling to bringing in a partner to buying into ownership. If you don’t start with a reliable number, you risk leaving money on the table or accepting unfair terms. Even if you’re years away from selling or reviewing a buy-in offer, understanding what your practice is worth gives you greater control now. It sets the tone for future negotiations and helps you protect your long-term interests. Here’s what you need to know about veterinary practice valuation and why it matters.

Veterinary Practice Valuation Trends

Whether you’re preparing to sell your veterinary clinic, buy an existing practice, or explore a merger, current market data can help you set realistic expectations. Below are some data from the 2025 AVMA Economic Report and a recent Veterinary Market Update from the Ackerman Group about the financial and market factors influencing veterinary practice valuation today:

  • Multiples Are Holding: Many practices still sell for 9x to 13x EBITDA, but buyer due diligence has increased, especially when growth is driven more by price than volume.
  • Larger Practices Command Higher Multiples: Buyers are willing to pay premium valuations (often 12x to 15x EBITDA) for practices with strong financials, multiple veterinarians, and over $1M in revenue.
  • Up-Front Cash Remains High In Many Deals: In Q1 2025, up-front cash made up 71 percent of total deal value, reflecting strong buyer confidence in established practices.
  • Limited Supply Keeps Valuations High: High-performing practices (those with 3–4+ DVMs and $750K+ EBITDA) are scarce, which supports continued strong multiples despite economic headwinds.
  • Private Equity Demand Persists: Consolidators are still active but are targeting multi-doctor, high-revenue clinics in affluent urban and suburban markets.

The Rise of Corporate Consolidation in Veterinary Medicine

Large corporate buyers have changed how deals get done in veterinary medicine. They often pay higher multiples than individual buyers, but those offers come with strings attached, like earn-outs, restructured roles, or heavy non-compete clauses. 

These groups now dominate parts of the market, which makes it more difficult for individual owners to know what a fair price looks like. Their presence also drives up expectations in a way that leads some owners to expect prices their practices can’t realistically command. If you don’t understand how corporate consolidation could affect your practice’s value, you might accept too little or hold out for too much.

Common Valuation Approaches (and Their Pitfalls)

When you sell, invest in, or buy a veterinary practice, you need a clear and realistic view of what the business is worth. But not all valuation approaches use the same methods or make sense in every situation. Here are some common approaches and how they work:

  • EBITDA Multiples: Many buyers use a multiple of a practice’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) to estimate its value. But inflated add-backs or inconsistent accounting can throw the number off, especially if the seller tries to boost the multiple by excluding everyday expenses.
  • Discounted Cash Flow (DCF): This method tries to capture long-term earning potential by considering future cash flow and applying a discount rate to reflect risk. The problem? Small changes in projected growth or discount rates can shift valuations by hundreds of thousands of dollars. 
  • Asset-Based Valuation: This model sums up the fair market value of the business’s physical assets, like medical equipment, computers, and real estate. It works okay for underperforming or closing practices, but often undervalues thriving businesses by ignoring intangible assets like client loyalty and brand reputation.
  • Comparable Sales (Market Approach): Some brokers pull comps from recent sales of other practices in the area and use those deals to estimate a fair range. However, most of those comps aren’t public, and what little data exist often lack key details like adjusted earnings, deal terms, or post-sale performance.
  • “Rule of Thumb” Methods: You’ll sometimes hear shortcut rules like “x% of gross revenue” or “x times net income,” especially in informal talks or early-stage planning. They can offer quick gut checks, but they ignore major variables like profitability, client mix, staff stability, or the owner’s role in generating revenue.

No valuation method can tell the full story, and that can create risk during negotiations. A lawyer can help you review how a buyer or seller has applied their chosen method, flag weak assumptions, and push back on numbers that don’t line up with reality.

The Risks of DIY or Broker-Led Valuations

It’s easy to miss key details when you rely on a broker or try to value a practice yourself. Brokers might push inflated numbers to win your listing or favor one party if they represent both parties. DIY methods often miss critical factors like long-term lease obligations, employment contracts, or aging equipment. Some owners use outdated financials or assume goodwill will cover any shortfall. These mistakes can lead to deals that fall apart, or worse, close with unfair terms. If you’re not careful, you could base major decisions on numbers that don’t really add up.

The Role of a Veterinary Attorney in Purchase Price Negotiation

When you work with an experienced veterinary attorney to buy or sell a practice, you can count on them to look at more than just the sale price. They’ll look at how that price came together and how the deal might protect (or expose) you. 

If the buyer’s team applies unusual adjustments to earnings or overinflates the value of goodwill, your lawyer can challenge those points. If the terms of a deal include earn-outs or future performance milestones, your attorney can flag those risks and tighten the language. A lawyer can also help you set clear expectations about what happens if things go wrong after closing. 

Get Help from Our Full-Service Veterinary Law Firm

Ready to move forward with a sale, buy-in, or partnership? Mahan Law offers a free consultation to help you understand your options and protect your interests from the start. Founding attorney Anthony Mahan is a CVA, MBA, and practice owner who understands the veterinary industry inside and out. Let him address your concerns before you make a move.