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Sell up of veterinary practices continues
The transaction is Sovereign’s  largest sale to date.
Sovereign sells Linnaeus Group to Mars

Mars Petcare’s Veterinary Health Group has bought the Linnaeus Group from Sovereign Capital Partners, the UK private equity buy and build specialist.

The transaction is Sovereign’s seventh exit from its third fund, and represents its largest sale to date.

Sovereign backed the original Willows Veterinary Centre and Referral Service in September 2014, before undertaking to create the Linnaeus Group.

At exit, it had made 21 acquisitions, including North Downs Specialist Referrals, Avonvale, VRCC Specialists Referrals and Village Vet.

The group expanded from one to 87 sites in England, including five referral centres, and grew from a team of 120 to more than 1,400.

No financial terms have yet been disclosed.

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Annual submission deadline small pet animal exemptions

News Story 1
 Companies marketing medicines for small pets exempt from authorisation must submit their annual return to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) by 30 November 2026.

Submitting this annual return ensures continued compliance with regulatory requirements for products marketed without a full Marketing Authorisation. The exemption specifically applies to products intended for animals, cage birds, terrarium animals, small rodents, ferrets and rabbits.

For further details and submission guidelines, visit the gov.uk website.  

Click here for more...
News Shorts
Bluetongue RZ extended across Scotland

The Scottish Government has announced an extension to a Bluetongue Restricted Zone that is in place in south-west Scotland.

From 3 October, the Restricted Zone will be extended to cover the whole of Scotland. The Animal, Plant and Health Agency (APHA) says this is in response to further disease spread, as well as simplify trading conditions ahead of the autumn.

Since the whole country will share a disease status, it will no longer be necessary to have a movement license to move susceptible livestock around the country. Restrictions on germinal products remain.

As of 1 October 2026, there were 1,979 cases of BTV-3 in England, 389 cases in Wales and 40 cases in Scotland.