Pandemic Puppies and Private Equity

One of the perhaps unexpected consequences of the pandemic is the dramatic increase in pet ownership. Beginning in 2019, but continuing through the pandemic, private equity firm JAB undertook a series of acquisitions of specialty and emergency veterinary clinics–each of which was met by an FTC consent order. While the DOJ’s recently revised merger remedies guide suggests that private equity buyers may be preferred to strategic buyers of divested assets in consent agreements, the enforcem