Sentinel Capital Partners, a private equity firm, recently made a strategic investment in MB2 Dental Solutions. Founded in 1995 by David Lobel and John McCormack and based in New York City, Sentinel typically invests in companies at the lower end of the middle market and has approximately $2.6 billion of capital under management. No stranger to the dental service organization space, Sentinel has a well established record of investing in the sector. In December 2016 Sentinel acquired Altima Dental Centres, one of the largest dental support organizations in Canada. Sentinel’s prior dental investments include Castle Dental and Metro Dentalcare, each a leading regional dental group practice; Northeast Dental Management, a leading DSO in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic; and ReachOut Healthcare America, a leader in mobile dentistry. Castle Dental is now part of Smile Brands while Metro Dentalcare is now a branded dental group under the American Dental Partners umbrella. Northeast Dental Management was acquired by Dental Care Alliance in January 2016. Sentinel’s investment in MB2 is their sixth DSO investment.
Headquartered in Carrollton, Texas, and serving patients in Alaska, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas, MB2 is a DSO that employs a “joint venture” business model through which affiliated dentists enjoy the clinical benefits of a private practice and the infrastructure, compliance, marketing, and purchasing advantages of the traditional DSO model. MB2 draws on the energy of highly-engaged dentist partners with deep commitment and aligned interests. MB2 has grown rapidly through de novo openings, add-on acquisitions, and strong existing-office growth. Beginning with two practices in 2007, today MB2 has 85 affiliated practices. MB2 offers general dentistry services, orthodontics, cosmetic dentistry, and oral surgery.
“MB2 bridges the gap between private practice and traditional DSOs,” said Paul Murphy, a partner at Sentinel. “With a motto that ‘patients come before profits,’ MB2 attracts and retains highly talented and motivated entrepreneurial dentists by offering clinical autonomy and the opportunity to become owners of their own practices, while using an efficient and established operating model. We look forward to partnering with MB2’s team of dentist/owners and helping MB2’s talented management team continue to achieve their vision and goals.”
“We are very excited to join forces with Sentinel in our next phase of growth,” said Dr. Chris Villanueva, founder and CEO of MB2. “MB2 has developed a unique approach, which we designed primarily to serve the interests of dentists and their patients. We believe that our engagement and alignment with dentists and patients is the primary driver of our rapid growth and low dentist turnover. We see a significant opportunity to continue expanding our platform in existing and new geographies by capitalizing on meaningful demand for our unique dentist partnership model.”
Read other MB2 Dental Solutions’ stories on Group Dentistry Now – HERE