A more serious event could be the death of a partner, a serious illness or even personal family issues.  These kinds of circumstances can lead to a fire-sale or even a direct closure.  For example, recently, an owner of a small Southern Ontario practice became seriously ill; she was only in her 50’s.  Due to a human resource shortage and lack of available locums, the practice could not meet the demands of her clients and their pets.  As a result, the practice started to bleed revenues, and even though the practice was represented by a reputable business brokerage, the risks of purchase were too monumental, and the practice closed its doors.  Not quite as tragic, but nearly as damaging, was when a partner in a three-owner practice in Eastern Ontario began to have marital problems just as the hospital was considering a future sale.  The two remaining owners were forced into a shotgun clause to buy out the partner, thereby increasing their debt load and compiling legal expenses.  The lack of replacements for the removed partner, who generated significant revenue within the practice, put a tremendous amount of responsibility on the remaining two partners.  Unfortunately, this had a two-prong effect.  Firstly, they were unable to assimilate the revenues of the removed partner within their own schedules, so there was mild client exodus to a competitor, and a subsequent drop in gross revenues.  Secondly, the generation of revenues became too dependent on the remaining partners, which resulted in increased risk to a potential buyer.  Even though this practice maintained a reasonable profitability, the volatility and the dependency were too much, and investors passed on the option to purchase.