Houlihan Lokey Advises Smile Doctors

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that it has advised Smile Doctors LLC, a portfolio company of Linden Capital Partners (Linden), on its successful debt placement. Houlihan Lokey served as exclusive placement agent of incremental delayed-draw term loan commitments, which will enable the company to continue to execute upon its growth strategy. The transaction closed on December 11, 2020.

Based in Georgetown, Texas, Smile Doctors is the largest orthodontist-focused dental support organization (DSO) in the United States. The company provides orthodontic dental care for both wired braces and Invisalign® through more than 240 affiliated practices across 20 states. Smile Doctors operates a unique affiliation model that offers a highly competitive value proposition to orthodontists, resulting in industry-leading doctor retention and alignment. The company is well positioned to continue to grow both organically and through its highly developed affiliation process and pipeline.

Based in Chicago, Linden is the largest dedicated healthcare private equity firm in the United States. The company has invested more than $2 billion in healthcare companies since its founding in 2004 and currently manages nearly $3 billion of commitments. Linden’s strategy is based on three elements: (i) healthcare specialization, (ii) integrated private equity and operating expertise, and (iii) its differentiated human capital program.

Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive placement agent to Smile Doctors, assisting the company in arranging, structuring, and negotiating the financing, which consisted of incremental delayed-draw term loan commitments. The proceeds will be used to fund future affiliations and transaction-related fees and expenses. This deal represents another example of the firm’s ability to drive favorable outcomes to support the growth of its clients. Houlihan Lokey’s Capital Markets Group is one of the largest providers of private capital solutions in the world, raising over $9 billion across more than 50 transactions during 2020.