Case Studies

Quad-C has partnered with dozens of owners and management teams to help build their companies through a combination of organic growth and strategic acquisitions.

BUILDING AN INDUSTRY LEADER

At the time of our exit, Compassion-First Pet Hospitals (“CF”) was the largest independent, specialty-focused network of pet hospitals in the United States, with 41 locations across the country. 

Quad-C partnered with industry executive John Payne in 2014 to form CF, which began operations with the simultaneous affiliation of four practice groups in the mid-Atlantic / northeast region. We had been proactively pursuing an investment in the animal health sector for over a year, and we were enthusiastic about John’s thesis to develop the industry’s most collaborative and clinically-focused specialty veterinary network.

Through a series of affiliations with new practices as well as organic growth, CF expanded from being a regional leader to a national organization of high-quality hospitals with excellent local reputations.

EXECUTING THE STRATEGY

With the support of Quad-C, management executed on a well-defined value creation plan.

  • Proprietary sourcing led to 41 hospital affiliations with founding veterinarians across 13 states

  • Investing in IT systems to drive improved efficiencies, controls and consistency

  • Recruiting exceptional veterinarians to drive double digit same hospital growth and create full-service specialty and emergency hospitals

  • Investing heavily in back-office support to build out a shared services organization, allowing the veterinarians to focus on practicing medicine rather than dealing with administrative matters

  • Investing substantial capital in state-of-the-art medical equipment, new facilities and IT systems to support organic growth

  • Fostering a culture of collaboration and patient-centric care, which attracted top-quality practices and veterinarians to CF

OVERCOMING ADVERSITY

One of the proudest moments of our investment in CF was the company’s response to Hurricane Harvey in 2017:

  • CF’s main Houston location, its second largest hospital, was completely destroyed during the extreme flooding, and CF’s operations in the region were significantly impaired for months
  • Local management and the central shared services team acted quickly to mitigate losses and to continue caring for pets after the catastrophe
  • During this time, CF continued to pay all employees in full regardless of ability to work and also established a donor-advised fund to help employees who had suffered personal losses
  • In December 2018, CF moved into its new state-of-the-art facility in Houston, demonstrating tremendous resilience after a once-in-a-lifetime disaster
EXIT

After exceeding our growth plans and establishing the framework for continued future success, Quad-C exited CF in 2019 at a valuation of $1.2 billion.