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Summit Partners
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Case Study:

American Dental Partners

“Summit proved to be a great partner right from the start – from developing our initial acquisition pipeline to staying the course through good times and bad.”

Greg Serrao, CEO

Location:
Wakefield, MA
Leadership:

Gregory Serrao
Founded in:
1996
invested in:
1996
Status:

IPO 1998

Acquired by JLL Partners 2012
Summit Team:
Martin J. Mannion
Case Study:

American Dental Partners

Grew from a start-up to $84 million in revenues, acquiring 10 dental practices within first two years of Summit's investment

IPO in 1998

Leader in the corporate dental market

Summit partnered with Greg Serrao to form American Dental Partners with the goal of consolidating the fragmented dental care industry via an affiliation model. This strategy would enable American Dental Partners to acquire selected assets from practices in exchange for taking on all administrative and business aspects, allowing affiliates to focus solely on the delivery of dental care.

How Summit helped:

  • Identified and recruited Greg Serrao—an experienced financial and healthcare executive—as CEO of the newly formed business
  • Arranged for $75 million in debt financing for acquisition growth
  • Recruited executive management team, including CFO and COO
  • Built a board of directors comprised of healthcare industry executives, including Jim Kelly from Lincare and Derril Reeves from PhyCor
  • Served as business development team for the first three acquisitions, with a Summit Associate joining the business
  • Provided introductions and assisted in the selection of underwriters for IPO
  • Maintained a long-term commitment to the company, serving on the board of directors through 2008

American Dental completed its IPO in 1998, and Summit exited the investment in 2004. The company continued to grow, and was taken private in 2012 in a transaction valued at nearly $400 million. Today, American Dental Partners remains one of the largest providers of business services to multi-disciplinary dental groups in the United States and is affiliated with more than 25 dental group practices located in 21 states. Founder Greg Serrao remains CEO of the business.