Heska buying German vet practice software maker

LOVELAND — Veterinary products maker Heska Corp. (Nasdaq: HSKA) agreed to buy VetZ GmbH, which makes software to help veterinarians run their practices.

A press release said it was Heska’s entry into the “PIMS” — practice information management software — market.

Heska in September bought a Maryland-based diagnostic testing firm, and it made several buys last year. Acquisitions have driven soaring revenue, with quarterly reports roughly breaking even each quarter.

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Heska makes and sells diagnostic and specialty items, including testing instruments and materials, allergy and heartworm-prevention products, and software and data services, segmented into North American and European operations.

It has more than 7,000 customers and at year-end 2020 about 600 employees, 60% in North America.

VetZ is in Isernhagen, Germany, and sells software for workflow, communication, and other services. The software covers “pet family communications, boarding, scheduling, diagnostics, charting, health records, telemedicine, e-commerce, billing, inventory, fulfillment [and] analytics.”

It has 70 employees and 3,300 customers, mainly veterinary practices in Europe, and runs both B2B and B2C pet products and services online platforms.

Heska CEO and President Kevin Wilson said, “We will look to immediately incorporate VetZ PIMS into our subscription offerings to our expanding global base” of clients.

No purchase price was given on the deal, which is scheduled to close early next year.

Heska Corp. on Oct. 13 called a special meeting of stockholders for Nov. 22 to vote on increasing the number of authorized shares of each class of its common stock by 6.75 million.

Heska currently has 10.7 million common shares outstanding and trades at a $2.4 billion market cap.

In March, it raised $164 million, short of a maximum $175 million but above an original $150 million it planned to offer. It sold about 860,000 new common shares at $186 apiece.

Heska has trailing 12 months’ revenue of $246 million, up 25% over its last full calendar year.

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