SINGAPORE - Mainboard-listed New Silkroutes Group announced on Monday (May 29) it will acquire majority control of eight dental clinics and two dental equipment suppliers in Singapore in a deal worth S$5.28 million, in a move to expand its healthcare business.
Of the eight clinics, New Silkroutes will take a 70 per cent stake in five of them for S$4.20 million. These five clinics - Crescent Dental Clinic, DentalTrendz Clinic, Trendz Dental Surgeons, L'ving Vine Dental Clinic and Dover Dental Surgery - are located in heartland estates and are currently equally owned by two dental practitioners, Dr Keith Alan Liew and Dr Kee Keng Hsiung.
New Silkroutes will acquire 51 per cent of the remaining three clinics - Orange Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopaedics, Orange Aesthetics and Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, and Orange Dental Specialist - from Dr VicPearly Wong. All three clinics are located in Orchard Road.
The group will also take a 51 per cent stake in two companies owned by Dr Wong that supply and distribute medical and dental equipment. The total consideration for Dr Wong's three clinics and two dental equipment firms is S$1.08 million.
New Silkroutes will issue approximately 7.92 million new shares at 66.7 Singapore cents each to fund the acquisitions, which are expected to be completed by July 31, 2017. The clinics and dental equipment firms will be folded into Healthsciences International Pte Ltd (HSI), its 51 per cent-owned healthcare subsidiary. A leadership team will be appointed for HSI's new dental practice group.
HSI, which New Silkroutes acquired in December last year, currently has three clinics in Singapore providing complementary integrative therapies based on Western standards of medical care. HSI also runs employee healthcare benefits programmes and offers systems integration services to hospitals and healthcare facilities.
New Silkroutes CEO Dr Goh Jin Hian said the acquisition of the dental businesses underscores its ambition to be a leading healthcare company in Asia.
"Healthcare spending in the region will continue to increase in the years ahead," said Dr Goh. "We want to grow our healthcare practice to ride this trend and will explore strategic acquisition and management opportunities in Asia and beyond."
