Portugal’s Inter-Risco invests in dental buy-and-build

Portuguese buy-out firm Inter-Risco has invested in 32 Senses, a buy-and-build dental project which will see the firm acquire around 150 dental clinics and fund the roll-out of another 30 to 40 greenfield facilities by 2014.

The firm’s Fundo Inter-Risco II vehicle is expected to provide up to a €15m commitment to the project, which could receive around €40m of capital from Inter-Risco and potential co-investors, in an overall deal valued at around €80m.

The firm has already embarked on the opening of its clinics. Tomorrow, 32 Senses will launch its fourth greenfield clinic, with the aim of opening around 20 clinics by the end of the year in addition to its already acquired 25 conventional clinics. Upon exit, Inter-Risco forecasts the project will generate revenues of around €90m.

The company will operate through three lines of business. The first, a chain of 30 to 40 clinics, will be located in shopping centres. The second will be a chain of conventional street clinics. The third, a nascent idea which is still in development, will see three to five premium clinics opening in Porto, Lisbon and Algarve.

Inter-Risco hopes to capitalise on the Portuguese dental market, which is particularly fragmented and inhabited predominantly by small, family-run businesses. Only five to six dental groups operate in the market, but few focus primarily on high-quality, differentiated dentistry.

“We want to become the leading player in the market within the next 12 months,” said Afonso Barros, a managing partner at Inter-Risco.

“The whole purpose behind 32 Senses is to offer a full set of dental treatments to all households. In order to do this, we have implemented specific financial and insurance products that will allow lower income families to pay for their treatments through monthly instalments.

“On the upper-end of the market, we have developed taylor-made, advanced oral care practices that will differentiate our offering tremendously”, he added.

Key dentists will be given the opportunity to invest in a minority stake in the holding and will head the clinical developments within their own regions.

Inter-Risco was established in 1988 and manages around €150m of assets. Since inception the firm has invested around €200m in 80 Iberian companies, and currently manages two funds.

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