In 2023 January 1,300 sq.m. Veterinary Hospital in Vilnius, Lazdynai opened its doors to the public. One of the largest 24-hour veterinary clinics in Lithuania “Dr.Vet”, and many other services for pets are located under one roof in this new location.
The clinic “Dr.Vet” was moved from another location in Vilnius in Savanorių Ave. The staff who worked there previously and more additional specialists were transferred to the new clinic. This is the first “Dr.Vet” clinic working 24/7.
“Geri namai” – a dog hotel and rehabilitation centre, which is a new standard in the pet care market in our country, was also established and started operating here in the new location in Lazdynai. The synergy between the clinic and the rehabilitation centre is a big step towards improving pet welfare. We will continue to look for further developments of such centres not only in Lithuania, but also in other Baltic countries.
“Orion Wealth” team took care of the financing for the project, structure and implementation issues, working closely with the project initiators Liisa Leitzinger and Marius Jakulis Jason.
Marius Jakulis Jason, one of the most famous investors and philanthropists in Lithuania, and his wife Liisa Leitzinger invested about 3 MEUR of personal funds in to this unique pet treatment and wellness complex.
Liisa Leitzinger
The building in which the complex is located belongs to a family’s investment fund. The rest of its premises are rented out to various service providers. The main initiator of the project L. Leitzinger aims transfer the best practices and traditions of pet care from her native Finland to Lithuania.
After coming to live in Lithuania, L. Leitzinger became saw that pet care services are still poorly developed here, and vital animal rehabilitation services are especially lacking. She started caring for dogs abandoned by their owners in Lithuania. “There is no such problem in Finland – there are simply no stray animals here, so Finns are very willing to “adopt” dogs from other countries. “Seeing this, I thought that shelter dogs from Lithuania could also find new loving homes in Finland, because the shelters here are full of useless, abandoned, injured and sick animals. We started working and in 2022 we found new homes in Finland for 500 dogs from Lithuanian shelters. In total, over the last six years, we found new owners for one and a half thousand Lithuanian dogs in Finland,” says L. Leitzinger, whose efforts are currently placing more than 1,000 dogs in Finnish families every month.
The original idea of the project led to the creation of a fund that will invest in veterinary businesses in the Baltic region. This is how the “IAM Petcare Growth Fund” managed by “I Asset Management” was established – a private capital investment fund that invests in veterinary sector businesses in the Baltic region. The purpose and mission of the fund is to consolidate veterinary clinics and create added value by improving animal welfare, improving the availability of quality services, investing in the training of doctors, unifying accounting and IT business management systems, and strengthening management teams in acquired businesses.
The development of veterinary clinic networks in Europe is still uneven, and the processes of veterinary consolidation in the Baltic region are just beginning, compared to Western Europe. This opens up unique opportunities for investors in the region. In addition, the animal care market indicators demonstrate the resilience of this asset class not only to the impact of the pandemic, but also to the economic recession.
Manager and partner
ms@orion.lt