MELVILLE, N.Y., Oct. 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ: HSIC), the world's largest provider of health care products and services to office-based dental, animal health and medical practitioners, announced today that it has invested in Iwase Dental Supply, Inc., a leading full-service provider of dental consumables, implants and equipment in Japan. The transaction marks Henry Schein's entrance into Japan, the world's 2nd largest dental market, and increases to 28 the number of countries in which the Company operates.
Iwase Dental Supply's existing shareholders, including the Iwase family, will continue to hold the remaining shares of the company. Henry Schein will not be consolidating Iwase's financial results. Financial and other terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The Company expects the transaction to be neutral to its earnings per share in 2015.
Founded in 1926 with headquarters in Utsunomyia, Japan, Iwase Dental Supply is a privately held company with 240 team members, including 150 sales representatives. Led by Mr. Kenichiro Iwase, the third generation of the Iwase family to lead the company, Iwase Dental Supply reported 2013 sales of $190 million. Mr. Iwase has been named Representative Director and Managing Director of Henry Schein Japan, and will continue to lead Iwase Dental Supply.
"Henry Schein is pleased to enter the world's 2nd largest dental market alongside such a highly regarded partner as Iwase Dental Supply," said Stanley M. Bergman, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Henry Schein. "Building on the strong 89-year heritage of Iwase Dental Supply, we look forward to working with the Iwase family and benefitting from their unique market insights and decades of industry leadership. We believe the Japanese dental market, with an estimated 68,000 practicing dentists serving an aging population and increasing demand for elective dental procedures, will continue to grow in the years to come. With the expertise of Kenichiro Iwase, we expect to pursue additional transactions in the Japanese market and expand our business to meet this anticipated demand."
Iwase Dental Supply, the third largest dental dealer in Japan, operates one distribution facility and has 14 branch offices serving nine prefectures, including the eight prefectures surrounding Tokyo, as well as Iwate in northern Japan.
"We are pleased to partner with a company similar to Iwase Dental that has been dedicated to serving dental practitioners for more than three quarters of a century," said Mr. Iwase. "With the global resources that Henry Schein provides, our vision is to build the premiere pan-Japanese oral health distributor and we are eager to find the right strategic partners to make this a reality."
Henry Schein's dental business is the leading global distributor of products and services, including innovative digital dental technology solutions, to office-based general dental practitioners, dental specialists and dental laboratories. The Company serves its customers through a multifaceted sales and marketing approach that includes more than 2,600 dedicated dental field sales consultants, as well as product specialists, telesales representatives and direct marketing programs. Henry Schein's global dental business had 2013 sales of approximately $5 billion.
