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"It cannot cost that much to start a vet clinic" implies vets are cheap.

There is not an infinite supply of vets, especially those free from debt and who can borrow enough to start a practice.

Correct, that’s the problem, which is what I said. Not PE firms, lack of veterinarians.

If the PE firms buy up the practices and put all the vets in the area under a non-compete (not a hypothetical; see my other comments in this thread, it happened here in Rochester NY and is widespread practice), there aren't any vets to open a competitor.

Non-competes aren’t that simple, and in that very article it says they were forced to abandon it.

There aren’t any vets because there aren’t enough vet schools.

Don't worry, hedge funds will snap up those as soon as they realize the potential they've created.

Actually they're largely for-profit already. A good friend of mine does admissions for one, which is why I have a little insight into the industry.

I wouldn't be surprised if PE firms open more vet schools at all.

Veterinarians are not a dime a dozen. You can't go to a boot camp and emerge in 6 months with a license to practice. They should all simply refuse to sign non-competes (not that they should be legal in the first place).

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