<story><title>FTC acts against private equity firm’s acquisition of veterinary clinics</title><url>https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/06/ftc-acts-protect-pet-owners-private-equity-firms-anticompetitive-acquisition-veterinary-services</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>pclmulqdq</author><text>It&amp;#x27;s not capitalism because a licensing cartel artificially keeps the supply of vets low by keeping out qualified PAs and nurses who could handle easy cases.</text></item><item><author>Avicebron</author><text>what do you mean? That&amp;#x27;s exactly capitalism, it favors inequality heavily. The Vet made it to the top of the heap, and is now utilizing the PA as an exploitable workforce.&lt;p&gt;Tech example, BigCo A gets first mover advantage, equally good BiggishCo B is a bit behind (for whatever reason), BigCo A leverages their position to prevent B from being able to compete long term - usually by acquisition, they work for us now.</text></item><item><author>IG_Semmelweiss</author><text>A veterinarian cannot open a practice without doing a bunch of licensing and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in education.&lt;p&gt;Meanwhile, the PA next to him has what it takes from years of training but she will never open a vet clinic of his&amp;#x2F;her own.&lt;p&gt;Thats not capitalism.</text></item><item><author>banannaise</author><text>The inevitable march of capitalism: experts in every field are gradually relieved of their decision-making power by experts in finance, until finance guys control everything.</text></item><item><author>legitster</author><text>I worked with people who did (human) clinic roll ups.&lt;p&gt;Part of the issue at hand is that doctors and physicians are notoriously bad businesspeople. So once they build up a big enough practice, a lot of them will jump on the chance to sell the side of the business that they hate to a management firm.</text></item><item><author>PragmaticPulp</author><text>Vet clinics became very popular private equity targets recently.&lt;p&gt;One of the people I know in PE described their profit margins as being surprisingly high even before PE roll-ups. They said that some PE firms were on a mission to acquire all of the vet firms in metro areas and then drive prices up even further because the demand is so inelastic. There was a secondary rush where people were trying to acquire vet clinics in anticipation of flipping them to PE roll-ups later.&lt;p&gt;My local vet seems to have gone down this slide. A long time ago it felt like a staff that really just cared about animals and had good prices. On my last visit it felt like I was bombarded with practiced pitches for different products and services at every step of the process. They even added some expensive vitamin product to my bill despite me declining it during the service. They removed it when I caught it on the bill before walking out the door, but only after a last attempt at pitching me on it. I could tell they were heavily incentivized to sell as much as possible. I didn&amp;#x27;t go back, but at this point I don&amp;#x27;t know where else to go.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>stefan_</author><text>You have just realized that most actors in capitalism prefer to the rig the game rather than compete.</text></comment>
<story><title>FTC acts against private equity firm’s acquisition of veterinary clinics</title><url>https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/06/ftc-acts-protect-pet-owners-private-equity-firms-anticompetitive-acquisition-veterinary-services</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>pclmulqdq</author><text>It&amp;#x27;s not capitalism because a licensing cartel artificially keeps the supply of vets low by keeping out qualified PAs and nurses who could handle easy cases.</text></item><item><author>Avicebron</author><text>what do you mean? That&amp;#x27;s exactly capitalism, it favors inequality heavily. The Vet made it to the top of the heap, and is now utilizing the PA as an exploitable workforce.&lt;p&gt;Tech example, BigCo A gets first mover advantage, equally good BiggishCo B is a bit behind (for whatever reason), BigCo A leverages their position to prevent B from being able to compete long term - usually by acquisition, they work for us now.</text></item><item><author>IG_Semmelweiss</author><text>A veterinarian cannot open a practice without doing a bunch of licensing and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in education.&lt;p&gt;Meanwhile, the PA next to him has what it takes from years of training but she will never open a vet clinic of his&amp;#x2F;her own.&lt;p&gt;Thats not capitalism.</text></item><item><author>banannaise</author><text>The inevitable march of capitalism: experts in every field are gradually relieved of their decision-making power by experts in finance, until finance guys control everything.</text></item><item><author>legitster</author><text>I worked with people who did (human) clinic roll ups.&lt;p&gt;Part of the issue at hand is that doctors and physicians are notoriously bad businesspeople. So once they build up a big enough practice, a lot of them will jump on the chance to sell the side of the business that they hate to a management firm.</text></item><item><author>PragmaticPulp</author><text>Vet clinics became very popular private equity targets recently.&lt;p&gt;One of the people I know in PE described their profit margins as being surprisingly high even before PE roll-ups. They said that some PE firms were on a mission to acquire all of the vet firms in metro areas and then drive prices up even further because the demand is so inelastic. There was a secondary rush where people were trying to acquire vet clinics in anticipation of flipping them to PE roll-ups later.&lt;p&gt;My local vet seems to have gone down this slide. A long time ago it felt like a staff that really just cared about animals and had good prices. On my last visit it felt like I was bombarded with practiced pitches for different products and services at every step of the process. They even added some expensive vitamin product to my bill despite me declining it during the service. They removed it when I caught it on the bill before walking out the door, but only after a last attempt at pitching me on it. I could tell they were heavily incentivized to sell as much as possible. I didn&amp;#x27;t go back, but at this point I don&amp;#x27;t know where else to go.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>shakes_mcjunkie</author><text>Licensing can be used to monopolize markets and consolidate private ownership. Licensing isn&amp;#x27;t inherently bad but it can be used in a capitalist system to increase profits and drive out competition.</text></comment>