Equicapita Launches Roll-up Vehicle in the Canadian Dental Laboratory Segment
CALGARY, ALBERTA, VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA. and TORONTO, ONTARIO (October 1, 2021) – Equicapita Income Trust and Equicapita Investment Corp. (collectively “Equicapita”), along with BMO Capital Partners as a co-investor, are pleased to announce the formation of Canadian Dental Laboratories Limited Partnership (“Canadian Dental Labs”) in conjunction with the acquisition of the Protec Group of Dental Laboratories (“Protec”). Canadian Dental Labs will hold controlling equity interests in both Protec and Equicapita’s existing dental lab investment, Shaw Dental Laboratory Inc. (“Shaw”).
Founded in 1983 and based in Vancouver, Protec is the leading dental laboratory in British Columbia. Protec serves over 2,500 dentists across Canada and is considered a Canadian market leader in dental lab technology including 3D printing and digital scanning.
Founded in 1944, Shaw is the leading network of dental laboratories in Ontario, with locations in Toronto, London, Ottawa and Kingston. Shaw, whose diverse customer base includes over 1,500 dentists, has an established reputation for technical leadership and outstanding customer service.
“We believe the formation of Canadian Dental Labs creates a leading dental laboratory roll-up platform and one which we are excited to grow with BMO Capital Partners’ participation, and the terrific Shaw and Protec management teams. The creation of Canadian Dental Labs will give Equicapita’s investors exposure to the strong macro drivers of the healthcare segment combined with the reliable returns generated from scale as we actively make follow-on acquisitions in the space”, said Michael Cook, co-founder and Director of Equicapita.
“Our interest in the dental lab space has been growing since we acquired Shaw in December 2018. Ali Rezaei, CEO of Shaw, and his team have exceeded our expectations in growing the business through thoughtful investment in people, technology and partnerships. When the opportunity arose to acquire another dental laboratory business operated by yet another great management team – Neal Russell, Jeff Player, Neil Appelbaum and Gerrit Van Schalkwyk, Protec’s owner-operators, we knew we had found the opportunity we had been seeking to launch a roll-up platform in the vertical” said Equicapita’s Managing Director, Investments, Adam Jezewski.
“We are pleased to participate in the Canadian Dental Labs story,” said Hanz Gin, Managing Director, BMO Capital Partners. “Protec and Shaw have strong reputations in the category and we look forward to working closely with the management teams as they continue to grow. In addition, the team at Equicapita brings a strong track record, expertise in the dental laboratories segment and demonstrated expertise in managing the complexities of a roll-up strategy.”.
About Equicapita:
Equicapita is a private equity buyout fund founded in 2013 with offices in Calgary, Alberta and Burlington, Ontario. Equicapita currently manages over $300 million in AUM and operates a unique serial, SME roll-up strategy with the goal of providing investors returns from diversification, scale and concentration. Equicapita operates in the $5 million to $50+ million enterprise value space and its capital is currently deployed across five industry verticals: healthcare, regulated & environmental services, wholesale distribution, franchise/royalty and industrial services. Equicapita is actively rolling up businesses in each vertical through a combination of LP capital and co-investment partnerships.
For more information please contact:
Adam Jezewski, Managing Director, Investments
Tel: 905.336.8951
E-mail: adam@equicapita.com
Forward-looking information
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