Milbank LLP advised Dentex Healthcare Group Limited (“Dentex”), backed by Universal Partners, on its merger with Portman Healthcare Group (“Portman”), which is owned by Core Equity Holdings.
The merger will create one of the largest privately focused dental groups in the UK and one of Europe’s largest dental care platforms. In combination, the group will operate over 350 practices in the UK, with more than 2,000 clinicians and more than 4,000 employees. The group will provide dental care to over 1.5 million patients per year. Whilst Dentex has exclusively focused on the UK, Portman currently has operations in five European countries and plans to expand further in future.
The transaction was also the subject of a Phase 1 investigation by the UK Competition and Markets Authority that resulted in approval on the basis of undertakings and the Milbank team were instrumental in securing this outcome for the clients.
The Milbank team that advised Dentex on corporate/M&A aspects of the transaction was led by partners James McClymont and Paul Buchan and included associates Drew MacDonald, Daniel Carolan, Jamie Duncan and Lucy Reville.
The team also included partner Ajal Notowicz (Antitrust) and associate Stefanie Gschoßmann (Antitrust).
