Courtesy / Covetrus
Ben Wolin, president and CEO of Covetrus Inc.
December 10, 2020
Covetrus lays off 80 in North American consolidation, cuts last ties with former parent
By William Hall
Portland-based animal-health company Covetrus Inc. (Nasdaq: CVET) on Wednesday morning said it has laid off 80 employees as the result of a consolidation within its North American operations.
Covetrus, which has about 6,000 employees worldwide including 300 in Portland, made the cuts at locations throughout the U.S., spokeswoman Kini Schoop told Mainebiz.
“Within the North American realignment, a new commercial organization was created resulting in new roles, enhanced roles and some roles being eliminated,” she said.
In a news release, the company also said the reorg will reduce duplication, allow better servicing of customer accounts and free resources to expand Covetrus’ software and e-commerce solutions for veterinary practices.
“While it is always difficult when decisions impact members of our team, these actions will strengthen our customer relationships, enable new investments in our strategic growth initiatives and foster greater innovation within our industry,” President and CEO Ben Wolin said in the release.
Covetrus provides technology, services and products for over 100,000 veterinary practices throughout the world. The company launched in February 2019 from the merger of Vets First Choice, a Portland startup serving the veterinary market, and the animal-health division of New York-based Henry Schein Inc. (Nasdaq: HSIC).
On Wednesday Covetrus also said it has completed all of the 72 agreements it made to provide transitional services for Schein in the wake of its division spin-off.
Such agreements are typical in deals like the one that formed Covetrus. The agreements usually are short-term contracts to provide administrative support and infrastructure after the transaction closes.
Covetrus exited its transitional service agreements with Schein about a month ahead of schedule, and with several of the TSAs being completed even earlier, according to Schoop.
Wolin said in the release, “I congratulate our team for their remarkable work to complete our separation, and our thanks to Henry Schein for their help throughout the process. Covetrus enters 2021 with momentum, greater alignment around our customers and focus on delivering the significant growth opportunities ahead.”
In a recent episode of its podcast “The Day That Changed Everything,” Mainebiz interviewed Wolin about the future of Covetrus and his role within the company. He joined its board of directors in September 2019 and was named acting CEO six week later, after the resignation of co-founder and CEO Benjamin Shaw.
After opening Wednesday at a price of $29.38, shares of Covetrus stock closed the day at $27.23. The company currently has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion.
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