A Tale of Two Markets: what actually happened.
Rich Lester walked through the Q2 data live. Watch the highlights below, then save your seat for the Q3 session. The numbers for that one don’t exist yet.
Six minutes, if that’s all you have.
The clip below pulls the essentials from Rich’s Q2 session. The full 55-minute recording, including the live Q&A, is reserved for registrants. More on that below.
Prefer to read it? The full Q2 2026 Veterinary Practice Market Pulse report covers the same data in detail.
Five things from the session
If you missed it, here’s what mattered.
- The weighted average multiple hit 13.4x EBITDA in H1 2026. It’s real, but pulled up almost entirely by a small group of large, highly profitable practices. Everyone else has been flat for two-plus years.
- General Practice has overtaken Specialty and Emergency for buyer demand for the first time in two decades. Fewer active Spec/ER buyers means fewer bidders for those sellers.
- Cash at closing averaged 8.7x EBITDA in H1 2026. On an after-tax basis, that’s close to eleven years of take-home income paid up front.
- A June study on puppy adoption rates adds a new variable to the visit recovery the industry has been counting on for 2027 and 2028. Rich flagged specific reasons the data may not tell the full story.
- Live in the room, Rich fielded specific numbers on doctor-to-doctor multiples, IPO stock timing, and what happens to a deal if an associate leaves after signing an LOI. None of those topics made the highlights reel.
On the 13.4x number
“The economic data says valuations should be higher. The industry data says they should be lower. What’s actually happening is supply and demand.”
Rich Lester, CEO, Ackerman Group
Three questions the room asked that aren’t in the report.
How different are the multiples, really?
Corporate buyers are paying 7.5x to 15x EBITDA today. An associate buy-in is capped by what a bank will lend, which is closer to 5x to 5.5x now, versus roughly 6x a few years ago when rates were lower.
What if an associate leaves after the LOI is signed?
It depends on size. A two-doctor practice: the buyer may walk. Three or four doctors: expect a revaluation. Five or more: usually a holdback structure rather than a straight cut to price.
What else are buyers actually looking at?
Invoice growth relative to the market, whether the building has room to grow without new capital, and doctor retention. Zero turnover for several years sends a real signal.
The full replay covers all of it, plus the questions we didn’t get to live.
Tuesday, October 20. The topic’s still coming together.
The date’s on the calendar. The title and the report attached to it aren’t ready because that data doesn’t exist until the quarter closes. A few threads from Q2 are worth watching on the way there.
- Whether the CATalyst Council’s puppy-adoption findings start showing up in buyer behavior, or stay a background concern.
- Whether the gap between large, highly profitable practices and everyone else widens from here, or holds at H1 2026 levels.
- What the Fed does with rates under Chairman Warsh, and whether the Iran-driven inflation spike proves temporary.
- Whether the buyer count keeps contracting. Six buyers closed in H1 2026, compared with 15 for all of last year.
We’ll have real numbers by the time we send the invite. Register now to hold your seat for October 20. We’ll let you know the topic as soon as it’s set.
Register for Q3: Tuesday, October 20.
8:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM PT. Topic to be announced.
- Get the full replay, not just the highlights, even if you can’t join live.
- First look at the Q3 topic and report, the moment they’re set.
- Text updates as the topic comes together and the date gets closer, not just a day-of reminder.