Australian private equity firm BGH Capital has agreed to buy dental care provider Abano Healthcare in New Zealand in an $NZ300m transaction.
The news comes after The Australian’s DataRoom column first revealed on September 16 that the private equity firm was poised to buy the company for that price.
The deal was announced in New Zealand early on Monday, with BGH paying $NZ5.70 per share including debt.
That figure means BGH Capital is paying 8.9 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the business.
For the 2019 financial year to May, Abano generated annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $32.7m and $7.6m of net profit.
Abano, which owns the Maven Dental network in Australia, announced in July that it had launched a strategic review and had hired advisory firm Rothschild and Cameron Partners after receiving various expressions of interest.
Abano has 239 dental practices in Australia and New Zealand, where it is listed, and plans to gain greater dominance in the trans-Tasman market, with IT platforms already built to support growth.
BGH Capital is an Australia-based private equity fund founded in 2017 by former Macquarie Capital boss Robin Bishop and former TPG Capital executives Ben Gray and Simon Harle.
Last year it raised $2.6bn.
The buyout fund is believed to be among others circling the Australian division of bottling and glass packaging company Owens Illinois.
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