Level Equity to roll its existing equity and will invest additional capital into the Company
Planet DDS (the “Company”), a leading provider of cloud-based software solutions for dental practices in North America, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be recapitalized by Aquiline Capital Partners LLC (“Aquiline”). Aquiline is a private investment firm based in New York and London with $8.7 billion in assets under management, which focuses on investing in companies across the financial services and technology, healthcare, and business services industries.
In conjunction with Aquiline’s investment, Level Equity Management, LLC (“Level Equity”), a New York-based private investment firm specializing in capital-efficient, rapid-growth companies, will roll a portion of its existing equity in Planet DDS and invest additional capital. The investments from Aquiline and Level Equity will be used to accelerate the Company’s growth plans.
Since its founding in 2003, Planet DDS has improved the efficiency and operational performance of dental practices through innovative industry-leading technology. The Company’s solutions provide customers with practice management, dental imaging, and patient engagement and retention capabilities that enable them to streamline operations. The Company is growing rapidly with current partners and customers including American Dental Partners, the U.S. Army and Navy, and Dental Care Alliance.
“Today’s announcement is an exciting next chapter in our story as we continue to scale and improve our offerings to meet the needs of the dental industry,” said Eric Giesecke, CEO of Planet DDS. “Aquiline brings new capabilities to the business that will help drive growth. Level Equity has been a great partner since 2019 and I am excited they will continue to support the business.”
“Eric and his team have built a comprehensive and highly scalable platform that is well-positioned to meet the growing demand for cloud-based dental practice management software,” said Jeff Greenberg, Chairman and CEO of Aquiline Capital Partners. “We are excited to partner with Level Equity and the Planet DDS management team to provide our expertise and network to further accelerate the Company’s growth.”
“It is simply amazing what Eric and the Planet DDS team have accomplished since our acquisition less than three years ago,” said Ben Levin, Co-Founder and CEO of Level Equity. “The Company has completed three strategic acquisitions allowing them to deliver the most comprehensive offering in the dental market and the only purpose-built, fully cloud-based solution for solo practitioners and DSOs alike. Organic growth has accelerated meaningfully with recurring revenue growing over 500%, and they have assembled a world class set of managers. We had a wealth of choice in selecting a new equity partner and were all compelled that Aquiline was the ideal partner to help Planet DDS become the dominant market leader in dental. Their deep healthcare and payments experience are ideal complements and we could not be more excited to partner with them.”
SVB Securities acted as exclusive financial advisor to Planet DDS and Level Equity. Goodwin Procter LLP acted as legal advisor to Planet DDS and Level Equity, and Ropes & Gray LLP acted as legal advisor to Aquiline. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022 subject to customary closing conditions. Additional financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
For more such updates and perspectives around Digital Innovation, IoT, Data Infrastructure, AI & Cybersecurity, go to AI-Techpark.com.
