Goodwill, property and structure in veterinary practice sales

The headline multiple is not the deal

Veterinary sale headlines focus on multiples of earnings. The structure decides how much of that multiple you keep. Share sales, asset sales, property retained or sold, and earn-outs each move tax and risk between parties in ways a brochure page never shows.

Partners should model net proceeds under at least two structures before emotional attachment to a headline number sets in during buyer presentations.

Goodwill and property interact

Property owned personally, in a pension or in the trading company changes the conversation. Retaining property for rent can support retirement income but alters buyer appetite and tax. Goodwill allocation needs advice grounded in the actual deal documents, not a generic percentage copied from a forum thread.

Associated companies and recent incorporations can affect reliefs. Check early; restructuring on the eve of sale is rarely clean and can delay completion.

Keep partners aligned

Disagreements between partners about timing or structure sink deals more often than buyers walking away. A shared exit number and structure briefing, updated annually, keeps the partnership ready when a serious approach arrives.

Put the briefing in writing after each annual update so new partners inherit the thinking, not only the ambition to sell someday.

Keeping partners ready for the next approach

Update the exit number and branch contribution view at least annually, and after any material change in profit, property or key vet retention. Store the assumptions with the figure so new partners inherit the logic. Use the same pack in remuneration meetings and sale discussions so the partnership does not maintain two conflicting stories about how the business earns. Readiness is a habit, not a scramble the week a corporate letter arrives.

A note on timing

Do the unglamorous work in quiet months: tidy records, agree policies, and book the mid-year review before winter pressure or year-end deadlines arrive. Most expensive accountancy problems started as postponed admin. A ninety-minute planning call in summer often prevents a frantic March. Build the habit even when nothing feels urgent, because urgency is usually a sign the calendar was empty of planning.

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