Riverside sells dental company

Boston-based Riverside Partners has sold portfolio company MicroDental Laboratories, a provider of cosmetic dental services, to cosmetic and orthodontic appliance-maker DTI Dental Technologies for an undisclosed amount. DTI Dental Technologies is based in Vancouver and is a portfolio company of New York-based private equity firm HealthpointCapital Partners.

MicroDental’s management team and technical staff also took part in the sale to DTI.

MicroDental was founded in 1964 and owned by Andy and George Hites. It provides custom-made restorative, reconstructive and cosmetic dental products like crowns, bridges, veneers, implants and dentures. The company’s three operating facilities are located in Dublin, California,  Salt Lake City, Utah and Las Vegas, Nevada. The Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies is the home to the company’s laboratory. 

“The dental market represents one of the fastest growing sectors in the medical technology industry,” John Foster, DTI’s chairman of the bard and HealthpointCapital’s chairman and managing director, said in a statement. “The dental laboratory industry is a primary beneficiary of the public’s increasing interest in and willingness to pay for improved function and aesthetics.”

Riverside bought MicroDental in April of 2001 for an undisclosed amount. The firm added dental service companies Sunrise Dental Ceramics and Becden Dental Laboratories to the company in 2002 and 2006, respectively.

Founded in 1989, Riverside invests in middle market companies in the healthcare and technology industries. It is currently investing its third fund, Riverside Fund III, which closed at $225 million last May.

HealthpointCapital invests only in the orthopedic and dental device industries. It has $500 million in capital under management. The firm acquired another dental company, BioLok International, a maker and distributor of dental implant technology, for about $35 million in September of 2006.