August 16, 2012 -- The for-profit world has a stronghold on Oregon’s Medicaid market when it comes to dental care. That became very evident when a global investment firm, H.I.G. Capitol, announced earlier this month that it had acquired Capitol Dental Care.
Up until now, Capitol Dental had been owned by another for-profit entity, InterDent, Inc., that supported 145 dental practice support organizations (DSO) in eight western states.
Capitol Dental, which only provides services to people on the Oregon Health Plan, has the largest network – 300 dentists in 18 counties – and the largest penetration -- 191,418 members -- a sizeable 32.6 percent majority of the total population.
Its closest competitor, Advantage Dental, ranks second and is locally owned, having 181,984 Oregon Health Plan members. All told, 586,909 people were enrolled in one of eight dental care organizations, according to the latest statistics.
Representatives from Capitol Dental Care and H.I. G. Capitol did not return calls from The Lund Report by press time.
However, in an article that appeared in Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, a spokesperson from H.I.G. Capitol was quoted as saying, “The DSO model allows dentists and specialists to treat patients while reducing the administrative burden of running their own practices. We believe there is a big opportunity to further penetrate existing territories while expanding into new markets.”
H.I.G. is a leading global private equity investment firm with more than $8.5 billion of equity capital under management, according to the article. Based in Miami, and with offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New York, and San Francisco in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Paris, and Rio de Janeiro, H.I.G. specializes in providing capital to small and medium-sized companies with attractive growth potential.
H.I.G. invests in management-led buyouts and recapitalizations of profitable and well managed manufacturing or service businesses. H.I.G. also has extensive experience with financial restructurings and operational turnarounds. Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. invested in and managed more than 200 companies worldwide. The firm’s current portfolio includes more than 50 companies/
Announcing the acquisition, John Steinbrun, President and CEO of InterDent commented, “We are excited about the H.I.G. acquisition. Their investment supports our growth and enables the Company to invest in existing offices while growing our retail platform. We have a shared vision to provide the best work environment to attract high-quality dentists and specialists, and offer an unmatched value and experience to the patient.”
“We are very pleased to support John and his team in their growth and continued success,” added Chris Laitala, a managing director of H.I.G. Capital. “The DSO model allows dentists and specialists to treat patients while reducing the administrative burden of running their own practices. We believe there is a big opportunity to further penetrate existing territories while expanding into new markets.”
Image for this story by Herry Lawford (CC BY 2.0).
