Dunedin, the UK mid-market private equity house, has sold Practice Plan, the UK’s leading provider of practice branded dental membership plans, to Wesleyan Assurance Society. The sale has realised a money multiple of 2.8x for Dunedin.
Under Dunedin’s ownership Practice Plan has demonstrated strong growth organically, as well as through acquisitions and internationalisation. Since Dunedin invested in the business, membership fees collected have increased to more than £80 million per annum.
Based in Oswestry, Shropshire, Practice Plan is known for its innovative approach to helping dental practices grow their customer bases by offering marketing, business and consultancy support, in addition to providing practice branded dental membership plans.
As part of Dunedin’s investment strategy Practice Plan has embarked upon an internationalisation drive targeting the Australian market, and has also completed two transformational acquisitions; Isoplan a UK dental plan provider, and Medenta, the market leader in dental patient finance. Dunedin also introduced Tony Lochery as chairman of the business, recruited Nick Dilworth as managing director and further strengthened the management team with a new financial director, COO and IT director.
Oliver Bevan, investment director at Dunedin who sat on the board said: “Practice Plan has shown consistent growth, both organically and by acquisition despite challenging market conditions. This is a core element of Dunedin’s approach to investing: we look for businesses where we can unlock hidden potential in order to maximise value for all stakeholders. We have enjoyed an excellent partnership with the management team at Practice Plan and we wish them well in their next stage of growth.”
Nick Dilworth, managing director of Practice Plan said: “Dunedin’s investment and expertise has been invaluable to this business and they have proved to be a trusting partner supporting the business through a very difficult market. With their impressive network of contacts, Dunedin introduced quality members to the board and to the management team, further strengthening the business and increasing its firepower. Practice Plan is now well placed to take advantage of new opportunities and to continue its expansion into new markets.”
During Dunedin’s investment the company won several prestigious awards and has been ranked 30th in the Sunday Times ‘100 Best Small Companies to Work for’ and was awarded three star status in the ‘2012 Best Companies.’
Dunedin has completed eighteen portfolio acquisitions since 2011 to drive the growth of its investee businesses. In the last 12 months, the Dunedin portfolio of British businesses has reported 13% employment growth, 18% turnover growth and 10% growth in EBITDA.
In July, Dunedin announced that is had successfully raised a £300 million fund, dedicated to investing in UK SME businesses with an enterprise value of between £20 million and £75 million. The fund exceeded its target of £250 million.