What it costs to buy a vet practice in Australia

Vet practices with a published price are listed from about $230,000 plus stock for an owner-operated coastal clinic to $1.26m for a freehold animal hospital, and eight of the 14 listings we found show no price. Advisers quote 3.5 to 9 times EBITDA for multi-vet practices. Adjusted profit, owner dependence and the lease drive the price.

A vet practice is priced on the profit left after the vets are paid, and on how much of that profit stays when the owner leaves. That is why an owner-operated clinic on the Queensland coast can ask $230,000 plus stock while a freehold animal hospital in Berwick asks $1.26m for the business alone. Many vet practices are listed by specialist brokers that publish turnover but not price. This guide sets out 14 live listings in five states, how advisers and corporate buyers value a practice, the costs on top, and how the purchase is funded.

What vet practices sell for

If you are building a clinic from scratch, read our vet clinic setup cost guide instead. This guide is about buying one that already trades. The tables survey 14 live listings on 22 October 2026 across five states: six with an asking price and eight without. Figures are the vendor's or broker's, indicative market data and not Ventas offers. SAV means stock at valuation, paid on top of the price.

Listings with an asking price

Listings that show scale but no price

Four more Ray White Practice Sales listings on Bsale (667981, 667970, 670243 and 671041) disclose neither price nor financials, so they are left out.

Three things stand out. First, price follows profit, not turnover. Using our arithmetic, Bowral asks 1.9 to 2.2 times its adjusted profit, Agnes Water 0.9 times, and Kilmore 0.83 times its annualised revenue. Agnes Water is owner-operated, so ask how much of its $266,000 is the owner's own work. Second, freehold changes the scale: Berwick asks $1.26m for the business and $14.5m for the property. Third, specialist brokers publish turnover but keep the price back. Practice Sale Search says you must be a registered buyer to get further information, and seven of the eight unpriced listings show turnover, six of them at $1m or more.

How vet practices are valued

Vendors quote turnover because it is the bigger number. Advisers and lenders price on adjusted profit, with the owner's wage and one-off costs added back and a market wage for a vet taken out. Dental practices are priced in a similar way, as set out in our guide to buying a dental practice.

We found no published multiple for a single-vet practice from a primary source. The multiples above belong to multi-vet practices and corporate buyers, and the three listings that show profit or revenue sit well below them. Use the ATO row to test a vendor's profit. At the benchmark, a practice turning over $1.2m leaves $192,000 to $312,000 before tax (our arithmetic). Whether that includes the owner's pay depends on how the vendor is structured, so ask your accountant to restate profit with a market salary for a vet.

What moves the price

Two practices with the same turnover can be far apart in price. These are the items that move it.

• Owner dependence. If the vendor does most of the consults, clients may leave with them. RSM says corporate buyers prefer the vendor to stay or take an earnout, ideally for three years. Oak Flats offers a part-time handover and the inner east Brisbane vendor says staff will help with the transition.
• Staffing. The AVA's 2026 workforce survey page calls it the ninth year of shortage. Spare consult rooms are only worth paying for if you can recruit into them.
• Premises. Archer Indigo says to decide early whether freehold sells with the business, is kept and leased back, or is sold separately, and that a lease with under three years left is a negotiating weakness. High Country and Bowral offer the premises for purchase or lease.
• Equipment age. The Sunshine Coast listing says its major equipment is under three years old. Older imaging and surgical gear is a replacement cost. Our setup cost guide prices the equipment.
• Corporate bidders. Archer Indigo says well-prepared multi-vet practices are drawing an unusually crowded bid table, with Greencross, VetPartners, CVS Group and Apiam among the groups buying. The ACCC began reviewing CVS Vets' proposed purchase of Pittwater Animal Hospital in Sydney in February 2026, and sent Vets Central's proposed purchase of Hills Veterinary Centre in Blackwood, SA, to a Phase 2 review in August 2026. The AVA counts 3,793 practices. 2023 IBISWorld figures put Greencross at 6.1 per cent of the industry and VetPartners at about 5 per cent, leaving 88.9 per cent split among other operators, many of them single practices.

What you pay on top of the price

The asking price is rarely the cheque. These costs sit on top, and a lender will ask you to show them.

Transfer duty depends on the state and the contract. Queensland charges duty on goodwill, trading stock and plant. If the whole price of a $900,000 purchase is dutiable, that is $33,525 ($17,325 plus $4.50 per $100 over $540,000, our arithmetic). Western Australia charges it on goodwill and chattels, with a concessional rate at $200,000 or less. New South Wales does not charge duty on goodwill or stock, but leases and fixtures are dutiable, and goods are dutiable when sold with other dutiable property. Victoria charges no duty on fixtures of $2 million or less when you buy without the land, and generally none on assigning a standard commercial lease. Freehold, as at Berwick, High Country and inner east Brisbane, brings duty on the land in every state. Confirm the split with your accountant before you sign.

GST. A sale of a going concern can be GST-free if it is for payment, the buyer is registered or required to be, both sides agree in writing, and the seller supplies everything needed to keep operating (ATO). Otherwise 10 per cent GST applies, which is $90,000 on a $900,000 price. Check each listing, because some quote plus GST.

Premises rules differ by state. Check with your state veterinary board whether the premises registration or licence transfers or needs a fresh application, and make settlement conditional on it.

Financing a vet practice purchase

Health-specialist lenders target vets, and this is one of the few purchases where a lender will fund the goodwill. BOQ Specialist and NAB Health both publish up to 100 per cent of the purchase price of an established practice, subject to credit approval. BOQ Specialist adds terms to 15 years, interest only for up to three years, and security over goodwill and equipment rather than your home. Treat that as a ceiling. General business lenders are tighter, with Bsale putting typical loans at 50 to 70 per cent of price. Ventas is a finance broker, not a lender, so we do not quote rates here.

Illustrative only, subject to lender assessment. A realistic purchase of a leasehold small animal practice at a $900,000 asking price:

And how it is typically funded across lender types:

Debt here is about 72 per cent of the cash needed. A property-backed loan can fund the equity gap, or most of the purchase, because the lender relies on the property instead of the practice. The cost is that your property is at risk if the practice struggles.

What makes a vet practice deal fundable:

• Trading history. Two to three years of practice financials that reconcile to lodged BAS.
• Lease. A committed term that at least matches the loan term, with landlord consent in hand.
• Handover. The vendor, or an associate vet, stays long enough to hold the client base.
• Your record. Vet registration and clinical experience, ideally with some time managing a practice.
• Cover and security. Life and income protection, plus equipment, property or cash you can put in.

To get a number from Ventas, send the asking price, the vendor's split between goodwill, plant and stock, two to three years of financials and BAS, the lease with its remaining term, the vet and nurse numbers, and the security you can offer. Start at business acquisition finance, see veterinary finance, read how medical and dental equipment finance works, or compare lenders in the medical and dental practice finance guide. Finance is subject to lender assessment and approval.

This is general information only and not financial, credit, or tax advice. Figures are indicative market data from the sources listed, not Ventas offers, and move with the market. Consider your own circumstances and speak to a professional. All finance is subject to lender assessment and approval.

This article is general information only and not financial, credit, or tax advice. Ventas Asset Lending is a finance broker, not a lender. Approvals are subject to lender assessment. Consider your own circumstances and speak to a qualified professional, including your accountant for any tax questions.