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May 23 (Reuters) - Britain's veterinary sector will face a formal market investigation, after an initial review raised concerns about pricing and competition, the country's competition regulator said on Thursday.
Concerns that pet owners might not be getting a good deal on veterinary services prompted the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to start looking last September into Britain's veterinary market, which is estimated to be worth more than 2 billion pounds ($2.54 billion).
In March, the regulator published its review, flagging several concerns including pet owners potentially overpaying for medicines, concentrated local markets and large companies potentially acting in ways that reduce choice and competition.
An inquiry group made up of independent experts will oversee the investigation, CMA said in a statement.
Britain's six largest veterinary groups are CVS Group , IVC, Linnaeus, Medivet, Pets at Home and VetPartners. Since 2013, 30% of the 5,000 vet practices in Britain have been bought by these firms, the CMA said in March.
CVS said on Thursday it "will continue to proactively support the CMA through this market investigation".
"We will continue to fully cooperate with the CMA to ensure our unique and pro-competitive business model of locally-owned vet practices is fully understood," a Pets At Home spokesperson said.
Those vet practices are led by individual vets who choose their own pricing, products and services, Pets At Home has said.
Shares in the company were down 3.3%, while CVS was up 3.2%.
"While we're aware of acute staff shortages and difficult working conditions for vets, we consider a formal market investigation is essential to ensure good outcomes for the millions of pet owners in the UK as well as professionals working in the sector," said CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell. ($1 = 0.7860 pounds) (Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich, Alexandra Hudson)
