- Covetrus owns the company behind VMG. Covetrus took majority ownership of Veterinary Study Groups (VSG) in October 2020. VSG runs the 50+ VMG peer groups, 1,600+ practices, and operates as a standalone company inside Covetrus.
- Covetrus is a global animal-health technology and services company. Distribution, practice-management software (Covetrus Pulse), prescription management, and now peer education and group purchasing, all under one roof.
- Covetrus itself is privately held. The PE firms Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and TPG took it private in 2022 in a deal valued at roughly $4 billion.
- For a member, the day-to-day runs as before. Both companies said the study groups, benchmarking, and purchasing program continue unchanged. The structure is worth understanding, not fearing.
- An independent, vendor-free room is a useful complement. Above $3 million, OwnerExchange is the one community built for 3+ DVM practices doing $3 to $10M and up, with no parent vendor and no buying program attached.
A larger-practice owner asked me a sharp question last spring.
“If I join VMG, who am I actually joining?”
She’d done her homework. She knew VMG was the big name in veterinary peer groups. What she’d half-heard, and wanted explained, was that the organization behind it had been bought by a much larger animal-health company. She wanted the plain version. Who owns what, and does it change anything for an owner sitting in one of those rooms.
So that’s what this is. A neutral, factual map of the Covetrus and VMG ownership picture, and what a vertically integrated animal-health company moving into peer groups and buying programs means for an independent owner in 2026. I’ll keep it straight and sourced.
Two things up front. VMG is a genuinely good organization that has served thousands of owners well, and Covetrus is a large, well-run company that a great many practices buy from every day. None of what follows is a knock on either. And yes, I helped build a peer community of my own, so read me knowing I have a horse in this race. I’d still rather give you the facts than a pitch.
Does Covetrus own VMG in 2026?
Indirectly, yes. Covetrus owns Veterinary Study Groups, Inc. (VSG), and VSG is the company that runs the family of Veterinary Management Groups (VMG) peer groups. Covetrus announced a strategic investment that gave it majority ownership of VSG, and per the companies, VSG operates as a standalone company inside Covetrus with its team intact. The study-group model runs the way it did before.
That’s the whole headline. The rest of this article is the detail behind it: when it happened, who Covetrus is, who owns Covetrus, and why a single company gathering distribution, software, pharmacy, and peer groups under one roof is a trend worth understanding.
Who owns what: the structure in plain English
Ownership questions get muddled because there are three layers stacked on top of each other. Here’s the clean version, top to bottom.
At the top sit two private-equity firms, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) and TPG, which jointly own Covetrus. Below them is Covetrus itself, the global animal-health company. Inside Covetrus sits Veterinary Study Groups (VSG), held as a standalone subsidiary. And VSG is what actually operates the VMG study groups that a member joins.
So when an owner “joins VMG,” the room and the facilitator and the benchmarking are run by VSG, which is owned by Covetrus, which is owned by CD&R and TPG. Four layers, one membership.
| Layer | Entity | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Owners | Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) and TPG | Private-equity firms that took Covetrus private in 2022 |
| Parent company | Covetrus | Global animal-health technology and services company (distribution, Covetrus Pulse software, prescription management) |
| Subsidiary | Veterinary Study Groups, Inc. (VSG) | Standalone company inside Covetrus; runs the peer-group programs |
| The membership | Veterinary Management Groups (VMG) | The 50+ study groups, 1,600+ practices, that owners actually join |
Read it once and the picture is simple. A peer-group program a lot of owners value now sits, several layers down, inside a private-equity-owned animal-health platform. That isn’t a problem to solve. It’s a structure to understand before you decide what role each room plays for you.
What is Covetrus?
Start with the parent, because most owners know the VMG name far better than they know the company that now stands behind it.
Covetrus is a global animal-health technology and services company. Its own description is “a global leader in animal-health technology and services,” and it serves over 100,000 customers around the world. Think of it as four businesses braided together.
Distribution and supply chain. Covetrus is one of the large veterinary distributors, moving products and supplies to practices at scale.
Practice-management software. Its cloud platform is Covetrus Pulse, a practice-information management system, the software that runs scheduling, records, and the rest of the daily workflow inside a hospital.
Prescription management and online pharmacy. Covetrus runs prescription-management tools and practice-branded online pharmacy services, so practices can fill scripts and compete with the big retail pharmacies.
Client engagement. Reminder, communication, and engagement tools that connect a practice to its pet owners.
Covetrus was formed in 2019, when Henry Schein spun off its animal-health business and merged it with Vets First Choice. The combined company listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker CVET. So it’s a relatively young corporate name built on top of two long-established businesses.
Who owns Covetrus now?
Here’s the layer most owners miss. Covetrus is no longer a public company. In 2022 it was taken private by two private-equity firms.
The buyers were Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) and TPG. The deal was announced on May 25, 2022, at $21.00 per share in cash, an enterprise valuation of approximately $4 billion, and it represented a 39 percent premium to the company’s unaffected share price. CD&R already held about 24 percent of Covetrus before the deal. The acquisition closed on October 13, 2022, and the company came off the Nasdaq.
A take-private transaction simply means investors bought all the public shares and removed the company from the stock exchange, so it’s owned privately now instead of trading on the open market. It’s an ordinary move for a business of this size, and a common one across the animal-health sector. The relevant fact for an owner is just the chain of title: the peer-group program you might join is, at the top, owned by private-equity sponsors.
The timeline: how VMG ended up inside Covetrus
It helps to see the sequence laid out, because the pieces arrived in a specific order.
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1984 | Veterinary Study Groups, Inc. (VSG) is founded by veterinarians to run peer study groups for independent owners |
| 2019 | Covetrus is created by merging Henry Schein Animal Health with Vets First Choice; lists on the Nasdaq (CVET) |
| October 2020 | Covetrus announces a strategic investment giving it majority ownership of VSG; VSG becomes a standalone company inside Covetrus |
| May 2022 | CD&R and TPG agree to take Covetrus private at roughly $4 billion |
| October 2022 | The take-private closes; Covetrus leaves the public market |
| 2026 | VSG continues to run the 50+ VMG groups (1,600+ practices) as a standalone unit inside the privately held Covetrus |
The throughline is consolidation. A peer-group organization that ran independently for decades is now one piece of a much larger, vertically integrated, privately owned animal-health platform. That’s not unique to VMG. It’s the shape of the whole profession right now.
What VMG actually is, on its own terms
Set ownership aside for a second, because the program a member experiences is the same program it has long been.
Veterinary Study Groups runs more than 50 Veterinary Management Groups across over 1,600 practices in the US and Canada. Each study group is roughly 18 to 22 non-competing owners and practice leaders whose practices are similar in size. They meet in person twice a year, set their own agendas, and work with a trained facilitator.
The engine is benchmarking. Members compare real financial and operational numbers against similar practices, using a shared chart of accounts so the comparison is apples to apples. VMG publishes that standard jointly with AAHA as the VMG-AAHA Chart of Accounts. Standardization is the unglamorous thing that makes benchmarking actually work.
On top of that sits a group purchasing program with close to 60 preferred partners, which pools the membership’s buying volume to negotiate sharper pricing on products, services, and equipment. For a lot of owners, that buying power is the easiest line on the membership to justify.
It’s a strong package for the broad base of independent ownership, and that’s exactly who it’s built for. The wider the door, the bigger the room.
Understanding the corporate structure behind a program is just good owner diligence. The next question is which room is operating at your altitude, and whether you want one with no vendor attached to it. See who’s actually at the OwnerExchange table →
Why this trend matters for an independent owner
Zoom out, because the Covetrus and VMG story is one clear example of a much bigger pattern.
The animal-health world is consolidating into a handful of large, vertically integrated platforms. Vertical integration just means one company owning several links in the same chain, distribution, software, pharmacy, and now peer education and group purchasing, all under one roof. A practice can today buy its products, run its software, fill its prescriptions, benchmark its numbers, and join its peer group from companies that all ladder up to the same parent.
There’s a genuine upside to that for owners, and it’s worth naming plainly.
More resources under one roof. Integration can mean tighter software-to-pharmacy workflows, data that flows between tools, and the convenience of fewer vendors to manage. A large parent can fund and sustain programs a small independent organization might struggle to.
And there’s a second thing worth naming, just as plainly, without casting any shade on the first.
The value of an independent, vendor-free room. When your benchmarking, your buying, and your software increasingly come from companies under one corporate umbrella, an owner often wants at least one room in their life that sells them nothing. A place to get an unbiased read on which software to run, which buying program is actually worth it, and whether the integrated bundle is serving the practice or just the platform. That independence isn’t a criticism of any provider. It’s a complement to them.
This is the lens I’d hand any owner weighing peer groups in 2026. Not “integrated bad, independent good.” Both have a place. The smart move is to understand who owns the room you’re sitting in, and to make sure you also have one that answers to nobody but its members.
Where this leaves the larger owner
Now add the size filter, because it changes the answer. Picture a 3-plus doctor practice doing $3 million or more.
The established study groups put that owner alongside much smaller practices by design, which is what makes the broad benchmarking work, and also what leaves a high-revenue owner quietly mentoring the room. Excellent programs, built for a different seat.
That gap is the reason OwnerExchange exists, and it’s deliberately the opposite kind of room. It’s a community built specifically for owners of 3+ DVM practices doing $3 to $10 million and up, the sharpest 5 percent of independent owners. Two things set it apart for this conversation. It’s caliber-matched, so you’re in a small mastermind group of true peers instead of the most advanced person at the table. And it’s independent and vendor-free, with no parent distributor, no software platform, and no buying program attached, so the only agenda in the room is the owners’ own.
That independence is the point. When so much of the profession now ladders up to a few large platforms, a room that sells you nothing and answers only to its members is a different kind of asset. The agenda is what larger owners actually lose sleep over: profitability without burnout, hiring and keeping real talent, growth and expansion timing, and the future of independent ownership in a consolidating market.
So the honest read is this. The integrated programs are strong, and for most of the profession they’re a good choice you should take. For the top tier, the most valuable complement is an independent room built for your level.
What is OwnerExchange?
OwnerExchange is an independent, vendor-free peer community for the sharpest 5% of independent veterinary practice owners: 3+ doctor practices doing $3 to $10 million and up. No parent distributor, no software platform, no buying program, just a small caliber-matched mastermind group led by a veterinary thought leader, plus a private 24/7 forum of owners who get exactly what your seat demands. A new group of just 12 owners is forming now.
We’re selective on purpose, and sometimes the honest answer after a conversation is “not yet.” That’s the point. The room only works when every owner in it belongs there.
How to think about ownership when you choose a room
You don’t need to avoid every program with a corporate parent. Plenty of them are excellent. You just want to know the structure and ask three plain questions.
Who ultimately owns this room? Trace it up. A peer group, a buying program, a software tool, all of it has an owner. Knowing whether that’s an independent organization, a distributor, or a private-equity-backed platform tells you whose interests sit behind the program.
Is anything being sold to me here, and is that a problem? Sometimes a buying program or an integrated bundle is genuinely the best deal, and the vendor relationship is a feature. Sometimes you specifically want a room with nothing for sale. Decide which you’re in.
Do I have at least one truly independent room? Whatever else you join, it’s worth having one place that answers only to its members, where you can get an unbiased read on every vendor decision the rest of the profession is trying to sell you.
Run those three and you’ll choose with your eyes open, which is the whole goal. Understand the structure, value the good in it, and make sure you’ve also got a room that’s nobody’s product but your peers’.
Further reading
If you’re mapping the profession’s structure and where you fit, these go deeper.
- Veterinary industry trends: the consolidation and integration shaping independent ownership, and what it means for your practice.
- The challenges of veterinary practice ownership: the isolation and decision fatigue an independent room is built to break.
- The veterinary practice owner community: who’s in the OwnerExchange room and how the vendor-free mastermind groups work.
Frequently asked questions
Does Covetrus own VMG?
Indirectly, yes. Covetrus owns Veterinary Study Groups, Inc. (VSG), and VSG runs the family of Veterinary Management Groups (VMG) peer groups. Covetrus announced a strategic investment that gave it majority ownership of VSG in October 2020. VSG operates as a standalone company inside Covetrus, and the study-group model runs as it did before.
What is Covetrus?
Covetrus is a global animal-health technology and services company. It combines veterinary distribution and supply chain, practice-management software (its cloud platform is Covetrus Pulse), prescription management and online pharmacy, and client engagement tools. It was formed in 2019 by merging Henry Schein Animal Health with Vets First Choice, and it serves over 100,000 customers worldwide.
Who owns Covetrus now?
Covetrus is privately held by the private-equity firms Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) and TPG. They took the company private in a deal announced in May 2022 and completed in October 2022, valued at about $4 billion, paying $21.00 per share in cash. Before that, Covetrus traded publicly on the Nasdaq under the ticker CVET.
How big is VMG?
Veterinary Study Groups runs more than 50 Veterinary Management Groups covering over 1,600 practices across the US and Canada. Each study group is roughly 18 to 22 non-competing owners and practice leaders who meet in person twice a year, benchmark their numbers, and access a group purchasing program of close to 60 preferred partners.
Does Covetrus ownership change how VMG works for members?
Per the companies, no. At the time of the acquisition, VSG leadership said the study groups would continue to run as before, with the team intact and VSG operating as a standalone company inside Covetrus. The peer groups, benchmarking, and purchasing program work the same way. It’s reasonable for any owner to ask how a group’s ownership shapes its vendor relationships, and just as reasonable to weigh that against the value received.
What is the best peer community for a veterinary practice owner over $3 million in revenue?
VMG and the other established groups are built for the broad base of independent owners and serve them well. A 3-plus doctor practice doing $3 to $10 million and up is often the most advanced owner in a general-membership room. OwnerExchange is the independent, vendor-free community built specifically for that top tier, with caliber-matched mastermind groups and a private forum, so the owner is finally surrounded by true peers.
Sources
Covetrus and Veterinary Study Groups — ownership
- Covetrus / Business Wire. “Covetrus Makes a Strategic Investment in Veterinary Study Groups, the Premier Provider of Peer-to-Peer Learning that Drives Veterinary Practice Success” (October 9, 2020): strategic investment, majority ownership, VSG as a standalone company, 50+ groups. businesswire.com
- VIN News Service. “Covetrus now majority owner of Veterinary Study Groups” (October 9, 2020): purchase completed, 50+ groups, 1,100+ members, 1,500+ practices, 16-22 per group, standalone operation. news.vin.com
- Today’s Veterinary Business. “Covetrus invests in Veterinary Study Groups”: investment, scale, biannual meetings, US and Canada. todaysveterinarybusiness.com
Covetrus — corporate profile and formation
- Today’s Veterinary Business. “Henry Schein Animal Health + Vets First Choice = Covetrus”: 2019 formation, merger structure, business profile. todaysveterinarybusiness.com
- Henry Schein, Inc. Form 8-K (February 7, 2019): completion of the animal-health separation and merger with Vets First Choice (Direct Vet Marketing) to form Covetrus. sec.gov
- Covetrus. “Covetrus Pulse” practice-management software platform: cloud PIMS, prescription management, integrations. covetrus.com
Covetrus — take-private by CD&R and TPG
- Covetrus. “Covetrus to Be Acquired by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and TPG at an Enterprise Valuation of Approximately $4 Billion” (May 25, 2022): $21.00 per share, ~$4 billion, 39% premium, CD&R ~24% prior stake. covetrus.com
- Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. “Covetrus to Be Acquired by CD&R and TPG”: transaction terms and rationale. cdr.com
- TPG. “Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and TPG Complete Acquisition of Covetrus” (October 13, 2022): completion of the take-private. tpg.com
- Covetrus, Inc. Form 8-K (May 25, 2022): merger agreement with CD&R and TPG affiliates, $21.00 per share. sec.gov
Veterinary Management Groups — program and benchmarking
