Veteran OC dental business services executive Steven Bilt has resurfaced with a new company.
Bilt cofounded Irvine-based Smile Brands Inc. (see story, page 4) and ran the company until he left at the end of 2013. His cofounder was Richard Matros, now chief executive of Irvine-based Sabra Health Care REIT Inc.
He and Bradley Schmidt, Smile’s former chief financial officer, are now partners with San Francisco-based private equity firm Gryphon Investors on a new company, OneSmile LLC.
Gryphon is a former majority owner of privately held Smile—it backed Bilt and Schmidt as they built Smile into a company with more than 250 dental offices and $350 million in annual revenue until it sold the majority of its shares in 2005.
OneSmile will initially focus on buying existing dental practices and groups in the western U.S., Gryphon said in a release.
“There is a compelling opportunity to build a leading [dental services organization] in the western U.S. and I look forward to working with Gryphon again in this exciting new venture,” Bilt said.
Gryphon’s investing experience with Consumer Dental, a Smile predecessor, and others “along with their financial and operational support will benefit us as we establish a unique model bringing comprehensive general, pediatric and specialty dental care,” Bilt said.
Gryphon has made about $1.4 billion of cumulative equity commitments and focuses on growing and enhancing middle-market companies in connection with experienced managers.
The firm “has invested successfully in the dental sector in the past and we believe the opportunity in the space continues to be highly attractive,” said Luke Schroeder, a principal in Gryphon’s healthcare group. “There are a number of compelling acquisition opportunities in this fragmented space and with our investment in OneSmile, we are well-positioned to prioritize and pursue these investments,” Schroeder added.
Gryphon did not disclose specifics but said that it generally puts somewhere in the range of $35 million to $100 million into portfolio companies, which typically have annual revenue in the range of $50 million to $400 million.
Private equity firms have been big investors in dental practice management firms—a recent article on industry website Becker’s Hospital Review noted that more than 25 such firms have invested significantly in the field.
Octane Links With AdvaMed
Aliso Viejo-based booster group Octane is partnering with the Washington, D.C.-based Advanced Medical Technology Association, also known as AdvaMed, as the latter’s MedTech conference in San Diego approaches in October.
The conference will include “CEOs Unplugged,” a series where speakers talk about the medical device industry. Some of the speakers have OC ties, including Caroll Neubauer, chief executive of Pennsylvania-based B. Braun Medical Inc., which employs more than 1,300 in Orange County; and F. Michael Ball, a former president of Irvine-based Allergan Inc., now Allergan PLC. Ball is now president of Lake Forest, Ill.-based Hospira Inc.
Other conference events include an entrepreneurship boot camp and a medical device development course.
Bits & Pieces
Camino Health Center in Lake Forest has received a nearly $1.4 million Affordable Care Act grant from the Department of Health and Human Services. Camino is one of 48 federally qualified health centers in California that received funding from the act. The grants totaled $29.5 million. … Children’s Hospital of Orange County was named a 2015 “most wired hospital” based on results of the 17th annual HealthCare’s Most Wired survey conducted by the American Hospital Association’s Health Forum and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives. The survey examines how hospitals use information technology to improve performance in infrastructure, business and administrative management, quality and safety, and clinical integration. … San Clemente-based Amada Senior Care opened a location in Boston. Amada provides nonmedical in-home care and placement advisory services.
