Independent dental group acquires rival business in major deal

Birmingham-based independent dental group Riverdale Healthcare has acquired dental firm Hanji Dental Group for an undisclosed sum. The deal, which comes amid growing M&A activity in the UK’s highly fragmented dental industry, brings 18 practices to Riverdale’s group, taking its total number of dental practices to 59, along with a dental laboratory.

The deal was orchestrated by property advisory firm Christie & Co and was closed in the space of just five weeks. The acquisition is among the largest in the UK’s dental sector in recent years, with M&A increasing during 2021 and 2022 as investors, private equity firms and other buyers seek to enter the growing market.

Hanji Dental Group is also based in Birmingham and its 18 sites are spread across locations including Wellingborough, Loughborough, Nottingham and Market Harborough. The business was founded in 2007 by Dr Kiran Hanji.

Riverdale Healthcare Chief Investment Officer Chris Aylward commented: “This is a fantastic group of practices that further strengthens our proposition as a leading provider of dental care. Hanji Dental has become one of the leading independent dental groups in the country therefore we are delighted to be welcoming their clinical and practice teams into the Riverdale family.”

Christie & Co director – medical Jonathan Watson praised Hanji Dental Group’s business model, saying Dr Hanji “has strategically acquired practices in strong urban locations and close to dental schools, which are typically easier to recruit into”.

Watson said that this meant that there was significant interest in acquiring Hanji Dental Group when the business was put up for sale, with Christie & Co receiving “a great number of propositions from multiple parties."


Read about the rising wave of M&A activity in the UK's dental industry.

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