Summit Partners Leads Growth Equity Investment in DentalPro

MILAN, ITALY and LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwired - Apr 2, 2015) - Growth equity investor Summit Partners today announced that it has acquired a majority stake in DentalPro, a network of dental clinics in Italy. With the backing of Summit Partners, DentalPro will continue its rapid expansion in the Italian dental care sector. Existing DentalPro shareholder, VAM Investments reinvested in the transaction, as did CEO and Founder Michel Cohen.

Founded in 2010, DentalPro owns and operates 30 full-service clinics across Italy, most of which are positioned in shopping malls. Each conveniently located clinic provides a full range of high-quality dental services, from general dentistry to more sophisticated implants, prosthesis and orthodontics. DentalPro partners with local dentists and provides them with comprehensive practice management support as well as training, which allows the practitioners to focus on providing high-quality care. Today, more than 200 dentists are part of the DentalPro network.

"DentalPro was founded to bring the highest quality and most accessible dental care to patients through modern and convenient clinics," said Cohen. "As we expand DentalPro's reach, we remain committed to providing our dentists, clinical staff and employees with the support, services, training and innovative equipment necessary to deliver the highest standard of care. Summit Partners brings tremendous resources and expertise in building businesses across the healthcare services industry and they will be a valuable addition to the local knowledge and insight that VAM will continue to provide. We are truly excited about this partnership."

"With a focus on innovative and accessible care, DentalPro offers a model of excellence that benefits both patients and dentists," said Thomas Tarnowski, a Principal with Summit Partners, who joined the DentalPro Board of Directors. "We have been impressed with the company's development and we are delighted to partner with Michel and the entire DentalPro team as the company adds more dentists to its network and opens new retail locations to serve a wider base of patients and deliver high-quality care in modern facilities across Italy."

"It has been a terrific experience to partner with Michel and his team, who built DentalPro from a startup into a market leader in under five years. We believe the business is only beginning to prove its full potential," said Marco Piana, co-founder of VAM Investments, who will remain on the DentalPro Board of Directors. "We now also look forward to collaborating on DentalPro with such a successful global investor as Summit Partners."

Scott Collins, a Managing Director with Summit Partners who has also joined the Board, added: "Over the past 31 years, Summit has had significant experience in the healthcare sector, especially in the area of clinician-based organizations. DentalPro shares many of the characteristics we've seen in other successful businesses including top-tier support and services, and a commitment to delivering the highest quality and accessible care to patients. We appreciate the local expertise of VAM Investments, and we are glad that they are investing significantly in the transaction, a sign of strong commitment to the continued growth of the business."

About DentalPro

Founded in 2010 by Michel Cohen, Samuele Baruch and Paolo Tonveronachi and headquartered in Milan, DentalPro (DP Group s.r.l.) owns and operates an Italian network of dental clinics that offer a wide range of high-quality dental services from general dentistry to more sophisticated procedures in convenient and modern settings. DentalPro provides top-tier practice management support to dentists, allowing them to focus on delivering care. For more information, visit www.dentalpro.it.

About Summit Partners

Founded in 1984, Summit Partners is a growth equity firm that has raised more than $16 billion in capital. Summit has invested in more than 400 companies in healthcare, technology and other growth sectors. These companies have completed more than 135 public offerings, and more than 150 have been acquired through strategic mergers and sales. Notable healthcare companies financed by Summit Partners include American Dental Partners, AmeriPath, HealthCare Partners, Independent Vetcare, Lincare, National Veterinary Associates, MEDNAX, My Dentist and Solutionreach. Summit maintains offices in North America and Europe and invests in companies around the world. For more information, visit www.summitpartners.com or follow on Twitter at @SummitPartners.

About VAM Investments

VAM Investments, founded by Ennio Valerio Boccardi and Marco Piana, is a private equity investment company that has invested its principals' capital alongside that of selected co-investors since 2011. VAM focuses on growth capital and buyout investments across a broad range of industries, holding majority or significant minority positions in each portfolio company. Other investments include Yalla Yalla, Privategriffe and Genny Mobility. VAM is headquartered in Milan, Italy. For more information, visit www.vaminvestments.com.

In the United States of America, Summit Partners operates as an SEC-registered investment advisor. In the United Kingdom, this document is issued by Summit Partners LLP, a firm authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Summit Partners LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registered number OC388179 and its registered office is at 20-22 Bedford Row, London, WC1R 4JS, UK. This document is intended solely to provide information regarding Summit Partners' potential financing capabilities for prospective portfolio companies.