Planet DDS (the company) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be recapitalized by Aquiline Capital Partners LLC.
Aquiline is a private investment firm based in New York and London with $8.7 billion in assets under management, which focuses on investing in companies across the financial services and technology, healthcare, and business services industries.
In conjunction with Aquiline’s investment, Level Equity Management, LLC, a New York-based private investment firm specializing in capital-efficient, rapid-growth companies, will roll a portion of its existing equity in Planet DDS and invest additional capital.
The investments from Aquiline and Level Equity will be used to accelerate the company’s growth plans.
Since its founding in 2003, Planet DDS has improved the efficiency and operational performance of dental practices through innovative industry-leading technology.
The company’s solutions provide customers with practice management, dental imaging, and patient engagement and retention capabilities that enable them to streamline operations. The company is growing rapidly with current partners and customers including American Dental Partners, the U.S. Army and Navy, and Dental Care Alliance.
“Today’s announcement is an exciting next chapter in our story as we continue to scale and improve our offerings to meet the needs of the dental industry,” said Eric Giesecke, CEO of Planet DDS. “Aquiline brings new capabilities to the business that will help drive growth. Level Equity has been a great partner since 2019 and I am excited they will continue to support the business.”
“Eric and his team have built a comprehensive and highly scalable platform that is well-positioned to meet the growing demand for cloud-based dental practice management software,” said Jeff Greenberg, Chairman and CEO of Aquiline Capital Partners. “We are excited to partner with Level Equity and the Planet DDS management team to provide our expertise and network to further accelerate the Company’s growth.”
“It is simply amazing what Eric and the Planet DDS team have accomplished since our acquisition less than three years ago,” said Ben Levin, Co-Founder and CEO of Level Equity. “The Company has completed three strategic acquisitions allowing them to deliver the most comprehensive offering in the dental market and the only purpose-built, fully cloud-based solution for solo practitioners and DSOs alike. Organic growth has accelerated meaningfully with recurring revenue growing over 500%, and they have assembled a world class set of managers. We had a wealth of choice in selecting a new equity partner and were all compelled that Aquiline was the ideal partner to help Planet DDS become the dominant market leader in dental. Their deep healthcare and payments experience are ideal complements and we could not be more excited to partner with them.”
SVB Securities acted as exclusive financial advisor to Planet DDS and Level Equity. Goodwin Procter LLP acted as legal advisor to Planet DDS and Level Equity, and Ropes & Gray LLP acted as legal advisor to Aquiline. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022 subject to customary closing conditions.
Additional financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
ABOUT PLANET DDS
Planet DDS is a leading provider of cloud-enabled dental software solutions serving over 10,000 practices in North America with over 60,000 users.
The company delivers a complete platform of solutions for dental practices including Denticon Practice Management, Apteryx XVWeb Digital Imaging, and Legwork Patient Relationship Management. Planet DDS is committed to creating value for its dental practice clients by solving the most urgent challenges facing today’s dental practices in North America.
For more information, please visit www.planetdds.com.
ABOUT AQUILINE CAPITAL PARTNERS
Aquiline Capital Partners, founded in 2005, is a private investment firm based in New York and London investing in companies across financial services and technology, healthcare, and business services. The firm had $8.7 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2022.
For more information about Aquiline, its investment professionals, and its portfolio companies, please visit www.aquiline.com.
ABOUT LEVEL EQUITY
Based in New York and San Francisco, Level Equity is a private investment firm focused on providing capital to rapidly growing software and technology-driven businesses.
Level provides long term capital across all transaction types in support of continued growth.
The firm has raised $3.0 billion in committed capital and has made over 90 investments since inception.
For more information, visit www.levelequity.com.
FEATURED IMAGE CREDIT: PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay.
