12 January 2021
Present in France since 1993, in Germany since 2015, in Poland since 2018 and in Belgium since 2019, the Veternity Group is accelerating its development in Europe.
The company announced the acquisition in the Czech Republic, on December 22, of Kerberos Pet Crematory, a family business founded in 2013. Neighbouring Poland, the third largest country in Europe in terms of number of pets, the Czech Republic is a key market – 4 million pets identified for 10.5 million inhabitants – which strengthens the presence of Veternity and its Esthima brand in this geographic area.
This acquisition meets the very precise specifications of the French group wishing to accelerate its development in the Poland-Czech Republic area to create a solid and coherent East European hub.
Philippe Thomas, president of Veternity is delighted : “Veternity’s purchase of the Kerberos crematorium in Prague is a very important step in the group’s development in Europe. The Czech market, being mature, is a valuable asset for the company – both in terms of activity and know-how in the pet funeral industry. Our expansion, after 26 years of technical and methodological development in France, is part of a desire to offer families a reliable norm and economically accessible solutions at a particularly painful time when respect must prevail. The place of pets has evolved in our Western homes, they are members of the family and their death deserves a response that echoes the life spent together. It is this response that we have been developing with our veterinary DNA since our creation and that we want to continue to promote in Europe and North America. The acquisition of Kerberos Pet Crematory is a case in point.”
Vit Volhejn, founder of Kerberos Pet Crematorium with his sons Jan and Petr, said : “It will be an acquisition of a family company that has an empathetic approach to customers with a foreign veterinary company that will provide capital for the company’s development.”
Anna Winter, Director of Esthima Poland, Head of Development for Eastern Europe, adds: “The creation of the Eastern Europe zone within the Veternity group will facilitate synergy between the Czech and Polish markets, which we hope will increase the knowledge and thus the development of pet cremation services also in Poland. This strong presence of the Veternity group will facilitate the exchange of commercial and human experiences between our entities and will allow better communication to the general public about the existence of our services, namely the possibility of a last farewell thanks to a dignified, respectful and complete funeral, as pet owners would hope.”
