Pre-close · Veterinary Services

Employment & Non-Compete Agreements for Veterinary Services Independent Sponsors

When the deal is veterinary services and the question is Employment & Non-Compete Agreements, the structure decisions in the first 30 days outlast the next five years. This is where Jason Powell works.

EV range $8M to $100M EV EBITDA $2M to $18M Audience Buy-side / Sponsor
The deal context

The economics on a veterinary services platform deal usually hinge on a handful of structural decisions. Employment & Non-Compete Agreements is one of them.

The typical veterinary services platform sits at $8M to $100M EV with EBITDA in the $2M to $18M range. The thesis runs on general or specialty practice roll-up under an MSO. DVM retention is more valuable than equipment. Underwrite the people, then the practice.

The moves

How Employment & Non-Compete Agreements actually gets structured.

  1. Negotiate seller non-competes to the maximum enforceable scope, by state law.

  2. Refresh key employee restrictive covenants pre-close, where possible.

  3. Address the FTC non-compete rule and its state-by-state aftermath.

  4. Tie executive non-competes to retention bonus economics that survive a quick exit.

  5. In veterinary services, layer in state-by-state CPM analysis filed pre-LOI as part of the Employment & Non-Compete Agreements workstream.

The common mistake

Drafting a national-scope non-compete in California. Enforceability is a binary, not a spectrum.

Jason's take
"A non-compete is only as strong as the state it sits in. Draft for the state, not the deal."
Jason Powell · Employment & Non-Compete Agreements
Capital after close

The deal is one thing. The capital that opens up after close is another.

Most independent sponsors solve the closing capital and then run into the post-close capital problem alone. The capital markets relationships that matter at month 18 are part of this practice.

MONTH 18
Senior refi
MONTH 24
Dividend recap
MONTH 36
Growth equity
YEAR 4–5
Strategic exit
WORK WITH JASON

Bring the veterinary services deal. Get Employment & Non-Compete Agreements done right.

Direct counsel from a securities and M&A attorney with billions in structured transactions, the independent-sponsor-native playbook, and the capital markets network that opens up post-close.