The Federal Trade Commission partnered with New York Attorney General Letitia James and twelve other state attorneys general on Friday to file a federal antitrust lawsuit; the complaint seeks a preliminary injunction to halt Covetrus from completing its proposed $3.5 billion acquisition of rival MWI Veterinary Supply. The legal action filed in federal district court argues that merging the top two distributors of animal pharmaceuticals, surgical instruments, and practice software would create an unlawful duopoly. Regulators warned that consolidating the two dominant distributors would eliminate fierce market competition, and the deal threatens higher veterinary bills for millions of American households; private veterinary clinics across rural and suburban communities would lose bargaining leverage to negotiate discounts on essential prescription inventory.
According to the New York Attorney General’s Antitrust Bureau and Wisevoter on Friday, regulators stated: “Attorney General James and the coalition allege that the merger would allow Covetrus to control more than 50 percent of the relevant markets for veterinary clinic distributors, in violation of both the FTC Act and the Clayton Act.” Both corporate targets signed a temporary restraining order freezing closing actions until at least December 4, and a federal judge in Manhattan will hear oral arguments on the preliminary injunction petition ahead of the December expiration deadline.
North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson emphasized that nearly eighty percent of households in his state care for family pets. American Veterinary Medical Association benchmark data indicate average annual veterinary care expenses reached nearly $600 for dogs and $530 for cats in 2025. Representatives for Covetrus and MWI asserted that the transaction would optimize automated warehousing logistics and expand delivery coverage for specialized biological therapeutics, but regulatory economists countered that the consolidation would combine the two largest direct sales forces in animal healthcare, leaving independent veterinary practices with negligible alternative suppliers.
