Dental Acquisitions in 2019

Veronis Suhler Stevenson (VSS) has made a significant growth investment to recapitalize Endo1 Partners, a Houston‑headquartered endodontic partnership organization. The capital will support Endo1's national expansion and a focused add-on acquisition program to consolidate complementary endodontic practices.

Caymus Equity Partners, together with Midwest Mezzanine Funds, RGA Private Debt & Equity and Pan‑Am Dental management, completed a recapitalization of Pan‑Am Dental, a full‑service outsourced dental laboratory headquartered in Savannah, Georgia. The transaction provides Pan‑Am with capital to expand its product portfolio, grow into new geographies and pursue future add‑on acquisitions while management retained a significant equity stake.

Young Innovations, a portfolio company of The Jordan Company, has acquired PuraGraft, LLC, a Kingwood, Texas-based supplier of biomaterial solutions for bone and tissue regeneration and dental surgical supplies. The acquisition will expand Young Innovations' specialty dental product portfolio and support national distribution of PuraGraft's regenerative products, pharmaceuticals and related supplies.

L Catterton's Latin America fund has made a significant strategic investment in OdontoCompany, a leading dental clinic franchisor in Brazil, to accelerate the company's growth and expansion. The firm will partner with OdontoCompany founder Dr. Paulo Zahr and existing shareholder José Carlos Semenzato to support organic expansion and strategic acquisitions; terms were not disclosed.

Frontier Dental Laboratories, a portfolio company of O2 Investment Partners, has partnered with and made an investment in NuArt Dental LLC, a full-service dental laboratory based in Brookfield, Wisconsin. The transaction positions Frontier to expand its Midwest presence and offer additional product and service capabilities to NuArt’s growing customer base of private dental practices.

Light Wave Dental Management formed a long-term management arrangement with CarolinasDentist, a Fayetteville, North Carolina-based dental group with seven locations, marking Light Wave's entry into North Carolina. The affiliation is backed by private equity firm Alpine Investors, with financing support from Tree Line Capital Partners and Monroe Capital.

PG Dental Holdings, with affiliate Dental Health Associates, P.A. and backing from private equity firm TriSpan Opportunities, acquired Bergen Family Dental in Bayonne, New Jersey. The add-on expands PG Dental's multi-specialty dental platform and strengthens its presence in Hudson County; financial terms were not disclosed.

Deca Dental Holdings, a dental services organization backed by Blue Sea Capital, has acquired Bright Smiles of Coral Springs, marking Deca Dental’s first acquisition outside Texas and expansion into the Florida market. Bright Smiles will continue operating under its existing brand while gaining access to Deca Dental’s resources to support patient services and growth as part of the platform’s add-on acquisition strategy.

Persistence Capital Partners (PCP), a Canadian private equity firm focused on healthcare, has made a new growth investment in MCA Dental Group Limited, a dental service organization headquartered in Ottawa. The capital will be used to accelerate MCA's expansion into additional dental practices across Canada and to support hiring and operational capabilities.

Chicago-based private equity firm Sheridan Capital Partners made a growth investment in Oral Surgery Partners, a Greater St. Louis–based oral surgery practice management platform. Sheridan invested alongside OSP's surgeons and management (who retained meaningful ownership); Twin Brook Capital Partners provided debt financing for the transaction.

Funds advised by Castik Capital have partnered with the founders of German dental chain AllDent to provide growth capital to support further roll-out of the group's large, professionalised dental practices. The founders, Dr. Dr. Ruben Stelzner and Dr. Matthias Stelzner, retain significant ownership and will continue to manage AllDent, which currently operates major practices in Munich, Frankfurt am Main and Stuttgart.

Smile Brands Inc., a Gryphon Investors–backed dental support organization based in Irvine, California, has partnered with Gateway Dental in Seattle to provide full-service administrative support while the practice continues to operate under its existing brand. Gateway Dental, founded in 1992 and led by Dr. G. Glenn Buchanan and Dr. John Kim, will keep its existing staff of 14 and retain clinical operations while Smile Brands supplies purchasing, payroll, IT, billing, facilities and marketing support.

Henry Schein One, a joint venture led by Henry Schein, acquired Lighthouse 360 from Web.com. Lighthouse 360 is a Sugar Hill, Georgia–based provider of dental practice management and patient communication software that serves more than 11,000 dental practices and has nearly 150 employees; financial terms were not disclosed.

New England Management Services (NEMS), a Boston-based dental services organization backed by The Beekman Group, has partnered with five New England dental practices — Cornerstone Dental Group, Dentistry by Design, Great Meadows Dental, Stiles Family Dentistry and Lennon Dental Group — to expand its footprint in the greater Boston region. The affiliations increase NEMS' managed network to 10 offices and are part of a regional growth strategy supported by Beekman's capital and operational resources.

Smile Brands Inc. made a strategic growth investment in DecisionOne Dental Partners to fund the DSO's continued growth and acquisitions across Chicagoland and neighboring states. DecisionOne's management team will remain in place while gaining access to Smile Brands' expansion capital and business support services.