You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.
Sector: Health Care
Status: In Portfolio
Fund: III
Deal type: Management buyout
Investment date: April 2025
IMS Euro supplies medical and non-medical consumables to the veterinary sector in the UK and Europe.
Via warehouses in the UK and Netherlands, the business offers a comprehensive range of products with over 3,500 different product SKUs being sold to around 3,000 veterinary clinics.
Its product offering includes wound care, infusion & critical care, PPE, infection control & sterilisation and patient care supplied both on an own-brand and 3rd party brand basis.
“We are delighted to have Elysian’s support as we continue our journey to be the number one global supply partner for all veterinary and medical professionals. As we developed our relationship with the Elysian team through the deal process, we could see that their empathetic and pragmatic approach together with their inhouse operational resource would create a strong partnership to deliver our growth plans.”
Sam Collard
CEO
Investment rationale
IMS Euro occupies a unique position in the veterinary supply market, focusing on provision of non-pharmaceutical consumables across the UK and Europe. This focus allows it to supply keenly-priced, high-quality own brand and exclusive-brand medical and non-medical consumable products alongside the brands also supplied by traditional wholesalers. In addition, IMS Euro has developed a highly cost-effective supply chain that further reinforces its cost advantage.
Given the range of products offered, its sourcing excellence and the cost position of its supply chain, IMS Euro is able to compete with a sustainable quality and cost proposition that is differentiated from competition.
Having had considerable success at winning business in the UK market – for example, having preferred supplier arrangements with several large corporate veterinary groups – IMS Euro has expanded operations into Europe via a significant investment in warehousing in southern Netherlands. The quality – price advantage enjoyed in the UK is replicated in key European geographies providing a strong basis for growth.
Creating value
We will support management as they continue to drive growth in mainland Europe and expand the set of own-brand products offered.
Further European growth will depend on leveraging different routes to market – for example buying platforms – through enhanced marketing capability and additional local sales capability. It will also require additional investment in technology as the number of customer systems that IMS Euro will need to integrate with and/or work alongside increases.
Broadening the range of own-brand products offered will underpin margins and provide a basis for further savings for customers.