Invests in Dentex Healthcare in UK

JSE-LISTED Universal Partners said yesterday that it had agreed to invest £15 million (R258.58m) to sink its teeth into Dentex Healthcare Group in the UK. The investment holding company, with a primary listing in Mauritius and a secondary one on the JSE’s AltX, said an initial £4m would secure a 36 percent shareholding in Dentex, a dental partnership group. An additional £11m in convertible loan notes would enable Universal Partners to increase its shareholding to up to 49 percent. Universal said the investment was in line with its primary objective of achieving strong capital appreciation in pounds sterling over the medium to long term through investing in high-quality growth businesses across Europe, with a particular focus on the UK. The company said Dentex had a “unique co-ownership model that encourages clinical excellence and growth in profitability”. “Dentex has the capacity to roll out and support a network of dental practices and they have strategically partnered with several dentists whom they will work with to invest in practices that deliver sustainable cash-flow generation, predominantly in the growing private dental market.” Universal Partners said it was investing equity alongside management and strategic partners to fund Dentex’s investment. Dentex’s chief executive Barry Lanesman trained and practised as a dentist in South Africa before developing finance and banking businesses focused on the dental and medical professions in Australia. – ANA BARCLAYS