Buyout giant Carlyle swallows Cheshire’s dbg

CHESHIRE-based medical purchasing company dbg has been acquired by investment groups Carlyle Group and Palamon Capital Partners.

Formerly known as the Dental Buying Group, dbg and its sister company TAG Medical, which provides medical equipment testing services to GPs practices, was sold by Synova Capital, for an undisclosed sum.

dbg, which is based in Winsford and has 80 staff, operates a membership model providing services to more than 8,000 dental practices across the UK.

Most recent accounts show it made ebitda of £1.5m on turnover of £7m in the year to the end of June 2012.

Carlyle and Palamon are the investors behind one of the UK’s largest dental chains Integrated Dental Holdings, based in Bolton.

Carlyle says that “dbg will remain independent” of IDH, however.

Commenting on the transaction, dbg managing director Kanesh Khilosia said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Carlyle and Palamon.  They strongly support our strategy to continue to grow and diversify dbg’s services and support our members whose interests remain first and foremost.”

Advisers on the deal included KPMG Corporate Finance and law firm Pinsent Masons, which advised Synova Capital on its exit.

Eric Kump, managing director at Carlyle said “DBG is a well-established business delivering clear benefits to its members, customers and suppliers. Carlyle and Palamon have a strong track record in this sector, having acquired Integrated Dental Holdings  in 2011.”

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