Post-completion, LVL will continue to be led by its co-founders, Susan and Andrew Keane.

A manufacturer of diagnostic tests for animals, LVL operates from a site in Yeadon, North Yorkshire. The consideration was paid in £700,000 cash on completion, with the balance satisfied in Dechra’s new ordinary shares.

The company currently has 18 employees and three consultants. Dechra says it will add LVL to its six existing businesses, which operate under two divisions: Pharmaceutical and Services.

In the year to May 2006, LVL generated sales of £955,000, leading to a profit before tax of £74,000.

The acquired business will operate within Dechra’s Services division as part of NationWide Laboratories and Cambridge Specialist Laboratory Services, its existing veterinary laboratories operations.

In the six months to the end of December last year, the group’s interim results show a pre-tax profit of £5.9 million from revenues of £125.9 million.