Who Let the Dogs Out? A Case Study of Fidelio Capital's and Nordic Capital's Investment in AniCura

Abstract: We aim to study the value creation in a buy-and-build strategy, how secondary buyouts can create value and how an extreme number of acquisitions can be transformed to one company. To do this, we studied AniCura (prev. Djursjukhusgruppen) during Fidelio Capital and Nordic Capital's ownership from 2011-2018, in a single case study. We found that a buy-and-build strategy can be much more than multiple arbitrage. To hold the network of clinics together, active management of the organizational structure, culture and best-practices was needed. Our findings also suggest that different private equity houses can create value at different stages in AniCura's growth journey. This can partly be explained by the difference in the size of the private equity houses. Lastly, we found that the group was held together by a culture that the veterinarians preferred to being independent. The culture was partly pre-determined through sourcing of targets and partly influenced by strategic management of the clinics.