Press Release
Nation’s Largest Veterinary Cooperative Joining Forces with Regional Player
VPI Stockholders Vote to Approve TVC’S Offer To Join TVC And Dissolve VPI
Evanston, IL- July 5th, 2017
The Veterinary Cooperative (TVC) is pleased to announce that, Veterinary Products, Inc. (VPI) stockholder-owners approved TVC’s offer to allow VPI stockholders and members to join TVC. The transaction of VPI members joining TVC and VPIs dissolution is expected to be completed by the end of July.
“I am excited to welcome the potential 600 VPI members into the TVC family of independent clinics “ said Rich Morris CEO of the Veterinary Cooperative. “TVC’s current membership totals about 2,300, and is projected to reach about 3,000 clinics by the end of the year.” TVC was founded in September 2012 and is headquartered in Evanston, IL; its member-owners are in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In 2016, TVC member-owners took in a combined revenue of over 1.5 Billion (expected to be about 2.5 billion in 2017) in sales revenue and purchased from over 100 TVC vendor programs designed to help member clinics compete with big box stores and corporate accounts. That purchasing activity generated about a 7% savings to the average member not to mention the additional profit from participating in TVC educational, marketing and Best Practice Programs. Although often referred to as a Group Purchasing Organization (GPO), TVC is not; it is a not-for-profit cooperative, the largest cooperative in the veterinary industry. Any profits are re-distributed to the member-owners at the end of the year in a dividend check. In 2016, TVC distributed a Participation Rebate comprised of profits of about $1,200 in dividends back to each eligible participating member-owners (on top of their rebates and discounts).
VPI was a co-op founded in 1994 by a group of 10 veterinarians to create a veterinary-owned distributorship focused on preserving the independent veterinary practice model. They were headquartered in Kennesaw, GA and had 600+ stockholders/members in 15 states, primarily in the southeast. They had their own warehouse stocked with over 1275 items. Like TVC, VPI distinguished itself from GPOs by funneling all profits back to its shareholders/members.
“For the past year, VPI’s board has been studying the impact of consolidation trends sweeping across every major segment of the veterinary industry and how it’s affecting VPI,” says Bob MacDonald, President of VPI. “Eighteen months ago, there were six ‘first tier’ manufacturers; today there are four (Elanco, Merck, Merial/BI, and Zoetis). In distribution, three companies (MWI, Patterson, and Henry Schein) own 95% of all distribution sales. Two GPOs (PSI and VGP) and TVC have aligned with one of the big 3 distributors. Cumulatively, they represent over 8,000 hospitals in the under 3 doctor classification.”
Continues MacDonald, “Based on these game-changing consolidation trends, the VPI Board believed that, as the smallest distributor in the industry, VPI should seek to align its stockholders with a larger buying group with greater buying power and thus greater leverage in negotiating prices. It became clear that the best partnership for VPI stockholders is TVC.”
Next up for TVC is the much anticipated TVC University. Still in the works, TVC University will consist of roughly 8 programs of Business Essentials designed to bring vets up to speed on the essentials needed to run a successful veterinary business leading to best business practices. Each of the 8 program segments will be no longer than 30, minutes providing CE credit, free to our membership.. TVC has another 25 business and sales-related programs identified to develop, and will also solicit vendors to see if they have CE-qualified programs to include. In 2018, TVC hopes to make the programs available to non-members and vendors for a fee. Elanco Animal Health will be the inaugural full-year sponsor. According to Rich Morris, CEO of TVC, “TVC University is going to be a huge focus for TVC. The goal is to have it up and running by September 1st.”
Our Mission:
TVC’s mission is to level the playing field for the independent veterinarian by matching the purchase price of products and services given to corporate accounts.
Providing free marketing and member best practices in patient care, that will bring in more clients, revenue, and profits.
Educating our members with free CE courses on business practices that will enable members to compete with big box stores, online stores, and corporate practices.
TVC also seeks to secure the future of the independent veterinary clinic by striving to become the largest group of independent veterinary clinics, ensuring that not only can independents thrive into the future, but also that clients can choose a veterinarian who has a choice of medical procedures.
Join us at www.tvc.coop/join
Use the code “Independence Day” at signup for a $100 one-time (lifetime) membership fee.