Operating for over 40 years, The Dental Directory provides a range of dental products and services to dentists across the UK. With nearly 300 employees across four UK sites, the services are provided through a multi-channel offering comprising field based sales teams and engineers, a dedicated UK call centre, and online and mail order capability. These services are supported by automated picking and packing systems from a central logistical base in Witham, Essex.
Speaking on the transaction, The Dental Directory’s managing director, Martin Mills, commented: “A transaction of this size and complexity was always going to be challenging in the timescale demanded. The group of companies involved had to be re-structured within a regulatory environment with many supplier and client contracts to be analysed and considered in a very short period. I am most impressed with the professionalism and resource application of Birketts and without the dedication of their team the deal would not have happened in the timescale. It is always comforting in a pressured situation such as this that you can just make a call and there is always someone there to help and advise. I would like to thank Raf and his team for getting the deal away.”
The Chelmsford office partner, Rafael Ruiz, who led the Birketts team on the transaction, said: “This was a complex and high value transaction, with challenging timescales, requiring resources from a number of teams across the firm. I’m pleased that we met those challenges, and I look forward to following the growth and future success of The Dental Directory in its next chapter, as a part of the IDH Group.”
Steve White, corporate finance director, at Grant Thornton, who advised the seller on financial aspects of the transaction, said: “Rafael and his team were instrumental in delivering an outstanding deal against a demanding timetable, offering pragmatic and commercial advice to resolve issues.”