Sell your veterinary practice, starting with a free valuation.
A veterinary practice can sell to an associate already working in it, to an outside veterinarian or to a corporate group. Which of them is likely to look at yours depends on its revenue, how many veterinarians it has and where it is. A free, confidential valuation estimates what your practice could sell for and what could move that figure.
VetFirm Sales is not a buyer and does not buy practices. What you send is not shared with a corporate group or another veterinarian without your permission, and asking for a valuation does not list your practice for sale.
What happens when you ask for a valuation
Tell us about the practice
Revenue range, state, service focus and how to reach you. It takes about two minutes and stays confidential.
A conversation, not a questionnaire
Someone from the team follows up to understand what a form cannot: how much of the medicine you produce yourself, your associates and staff, your lease and your equipment.
Your valuation
A value range based on your numbers and published sale and listing data for veterinary practices, and what could move it up or down.
Your decision
There is no obligation. If you decide to sell, the sale runs through Wraith Brokerage, LLC, confidentially, on your timeline.
Who buys veterinary practices?
- An associate in your practice
- In the AVMA's 2022 Economic State of the Veterinary Profession report, 36% of associates said they wanted to buy or co-own a practice. For small equine practices, a sale to an associate is still the most common exit, equine practice consultant Amy Grice, VMD, wrote in EquiManagement in January 2026.Selling to an associate or another veterinarian
- Another veterinarian
- Simmons & Associates, a veterinary appraisal and brokerage firm, says practices that sell to private veterinarian buyers generally have one or two full-time-equivalent (FTE) veterinarians. Finding an outside veterinarian to buy can take several years, AAHA's Trends magazine reported in July 2024.
- A corporate group
- Simmons describes the ideal corporate target as a practice with at least three FTE veterinarians in a desirable suburban area, and a 2024 presentation by the law firm Mandelbaum Barrett said practices with specialty or emergency services have higher demand. Two of the firm's attorneys wrote in Today's Veterinary Business in 2024 that corporate buyers generally offer a mix of cash, equity, promissory notes and earnouts rather than simple cash, and that unless you retire at closing the buyer will most likely require an employment agreement.What a corporate offer is made of
Selling your practice, in thirty seconds
What your practice could be worth, who might buy it, and how to find out without committing to anything.
A valuation is free and confidential, and asking for one does not list your practice for sale.
What the film says: You built a practice your patients love. So when you start thinking about what's next, the first question is simple: What's it actually worth? And who would buy it? An associate, another vet, or a corporate group. Start with a free, confidential valuation. It doesn't list your practice, and there's no obligation. Office manager approved. Get yours at VetFirmSales.com. On screen at the end: Get your free, confidential valuation. VetFirmSales.com.
What do buyers look for in a veterinary practice?
Buyers can pay more for a practice whose profit is healthy and keeps coming in after you step back from appointments and surgery. The veterinary practice due diligence checklist lists the records behind each point.
- Profit after a fair salary and a fair rent
- Simmons & Associates says that, generally speaking, a small animal practice whose adjusted profit is 7% of gross revenue is worth about half as much as the same practice at 14%. Extra or very expensive equipment does not add value, the firm's appraisers say, because buyers want income rather than more equipment.
- Associates who stay after the sale
- Simmons appraisers say a multi-doctor practice whose associates stay after the sale is worth more than a solo practice whose owner leaves on closing day. In a corporate sale, Mandelbaum Barrett's 2024 presentation tells sellers to expect a long-term employment agreement for the associates as well as the seller.
- Clients who belong to the practice, not only to you
- Client loyalty to the owner rather than the practice, and no identified successor veterinarian, are among the risks that lower an equine practice's value to corporate buyers, Dr. Andrew Clark told the 2022 AAEP Convention. When you share an active-client count, say how you define it: the executive director of the Veterinary Hospital Managers Association wrote in dvm360 in 2015 that the industry standard was a transaction in the last 12 months, while many of the managers it surveyed counted 18 months or longer.
- The building, the lease and books a lender can check
- If you own the building, a private buyer typically buys it with the practice, while corporate buyers typically do not, according to Simmons. Mandelbaum Barrett's 2024 presentation says they then want a fair-market lease, checked by their own rent appraisal, and deduct the rent from earnings, so a higher rent paid to you as landlord lowers the earnings the price is based on. If the veterinarian buying from you uses an SBA 7(a) loan, the lender must get its own valuation, prepared for the lender rather than for you or the buyer, and check the figures against your IRS tax transcripts (SBA SOP 50 10 8.1, effective October 1, 2026).
The SBA rule above is general information, not legal or tax advice. Confirm how it applies to your sale with your attorney or CPA.
How is a veterinary practice valued?
Appraisers at Simmons & Associates start from your tax returns, reset your own pay to a fair-market veterinarian's salary, charge a fair rent, take out unnecessary and one-time expenses, and value the profit that is left. The firm says no general rule of thumb, such as a percentage of gross revenue, sets that value, and that corporate buyers price on investment value rather than fair market value.
Guides for veterinary practice owners
For the whole sale in order, from the records a buyer asks for to the DEA controlled-substance inventory taken on the day of transfer, start with how to sell a veterinary practice, step by step.
- Selling a veterinary practice to a corporate buyer
What a corporate offer is made of: cash at close, earn-outs, rollover equity, the years you work back, the non-compete and the FTC orders.
- Selling to an associate or another veterinarian
How individual buyers finance, SBA 7(a) rules, seller notes and whether you can stay on.
- Who can own a veterinary practice
State rules on who may own a veterinary practice, premises permits and estates, and what they mean for the papers you sign.
- Veterinary practice due diligence checklist
What buyers and lenders ask for, from tax returns and practice software reports to DEA records, X‑ray registrations and medical records.
- Selling an emergency or specialty hospital
Who buys emergency and specialty hospitals, the FTC orders that bind some buyers, 24-hour staffing, specialists and the real estate.
Request your free, confidential valuation
Someone from the team goes through your numbers, your associates and your lease with you. VetFirm Sales does not buy practices, so the valuation is not an offer. For a rough range first, use the estimator.
If you want to buy a veterinary practice instead, join the buyer list.
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Confidential. Details about your practice are not shared with prospective buyers without your permission. Requesting a valuation does not list your business or commit you to anything. How your details are handled.
VetFirmSales.com is operated by a non-licensed entity and is an affiliate of Wraith Brokerage, LLC (a Delaware LLC). We specialize in veterinary practice M&A for all types of animal care facilities including small animal clinics, animal hospitals, specialty practices, and emergency clinics.