Houlihan Lokey Advises Sun European

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that an affiliate of Sun European Partners LLP (Sun European) has acquired DD Group (DD), the UK and Ireland’s number one dental and medical aesthetics distributor and service provider. Prior to the agreed acquisition, the company was part of IDH Group. Houlihan Lokey served as both the M&A and financing advisor on this transaction. The transaction closed 9 June 2022.

DD was established in 1971 (formerly branded Dental Directory) and has rapidly accelerated growth over the past three years under the leadership of CEO Paul Adams, achieving revenue CAGRs of 16% to generate £210 million of revenue LTM to March 2022. This impressive growth track has been underpinned by rapidly growing demand for dentistry and aesthetic treatments, with DD leveraging its unmatched one-stop-shop customer proposition to take increasing share within the highly fragmented market.

Today, DD is the only integrated distribution and demand creation platform for products and services to both dental and medical aesthetics customers, providing c. 12,000 dental practices and c. 6,000 medical beauty clinics access to 30,000+ dental and medical aesthetics products, prescription medicines, equipment, and technology alongside mission-critical dental engineering and compliance support services. Sun will apply its corporate carve-out and healthcare expertise to its next phase of growth.

Sun European Partners, LLP, is a leading private investment advisory firm focused on partnering with outstanding management teams to accelerate value creation. Since 1995, affiliates of Sun European have invested in more than 465 companies worldwide with revenues in excess of €40 billion across a broad range of industries and transaction structures. Sun European’s affiliated portfolio companies in the healthcare space include Clinical Care Medical Centers, Simply Beautiful Smiles, and West Dermatology as well as past investment ClearChoice Dental Implants. Affiliates of Sun European have completed over 60 corporate carve-outs, including Elix Polymers and Aclara Technologies.

This acquisition represents a key dental and aesthetics transaction announced from Houlihan Lokey’s European Healthcare team, demonstrating the firm’s strong competences, versatility, and knowledge in the wider healthcare services space. It further underscores the significant value add of close collaboration between the Healthcare and Debt Capital Markets teams.