Showing posts with label American Securities LLC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label American Securities LLC. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

American Securities Backing Out Of Kool Smiles Purchase?

It appears American Securities has seen the light!  Maybe they had a "come to Jesus moment".  Whatever the case, its reported to me Kool Smiles will not be sold, not right now anyway!
Knowing the lawsuits coming down the pipe is believed to have had a great influence in this decision.  Huge argument on whether it's "pike or pipe", but none the less, it's coming.
I would also assume the fact most of these clinics are  illegal operations in most states might have some influence as well.
I can see the headlines now:
“American Securities Buy Illegal Dental Clinics for $700 Million Dollars” or “Dental Clinics-Operating Illegally-Sold for $700 Million; Top Executives Say It Was a Great Deal”
along side
Couple Has Crack House For Sale, includes falsified licenses, and all other bogus documents, insurance is transferable.  Asking price, average of last 5 years revenue.”
However, we can’t dismiss the Early Termination Request granted from the FTC on October 29, 2010, between American Securities Partners V Limited Partnership, Friedman, Fleischer and Lowe Capital Partners Limited Partnership and Kool Smiles Holding Corporation.
FTCEarlyTermKoolSmilesOct-2010
Huge argument on whether it's "pike or pipe", but none the less, it's coming.
I guess we will just have to wait and see if Kool Smiles can be marked “Sold”.  If it is, I am sure it should be marked “Sold As Is” and “All Sales Final”.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

American Securities - It's All In The Kool Smiles

Here is one you just have to love.  This person is on Twitter.
Says he works at Kool Smiles.  Says he currently lives in Louisville, Kentucky.  See here
Why am I afraid it's the one in the middle who will put his hands in a child's mouth tomorrow!



This is what American Securities wants to give $700 million to own.
 Update:
June 30,2011
American Securities appears to have backed out of this purchase of NCDR, LLC and it's string of Kool Smiles dental centers.

Monday, October 04, 2010

Kool Smiles Said to Have Received Offer of $700 Million Clinics

Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) -- American Securities LLC, a New York- based private-equity firm, is the leading bidder for a U.S. chain of dental clinics owned by Friedman Fleischer & Lowe LLC with an offer of about $700 million, according to people with knowledge of the auction.

Friedman Fleischer owns two companies, NCDR LLC and DPMS Inc., that provide facilities and support staff to dental groups operating under the Kool Smiles brand, according to the San Francisco-based firm’s website. TPG Capital also submitted an offer in the final round of bidding, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the deal hasn’t been completed.

The two companies are not really two companies, it's Kool Smiles and Kool Smiles 2.  KS is the clinics in the East and KS2 are the western most clinics.

Read the full article here: Business Week

However since after time passes and the stinch of a company begins to fill the offices of these PE firms, stories like this seem to vanish from the Internet.  So in case that happens, here is the full story:

By Cristina Alesci, Jeffrey McCracken and Jason Kelly
Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) -- American Securities LLC, a New York- based private-equity firm, is the leading bidder for a U.S. chain of dental clinics owned by Friedman Fleischer & Lowe LLC with an offer of about $700 million, according to people with knowledge of the auction.
Friedman Fleischer owns two companies, NCDR LLC and DPMS Inc., that provide facilities and support staff to dental groups operating under the Kool Smiles brand, according to the San Francisco-based firm’s website. TPG Capital also submitted an offer in the final round of bidding, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the deal hasn’t been completed.
Rajat Duggal, a managing director at Friedman Fleischer, couldn’t be reached for comment. Officials for American Securities and TPG declined to comment.
Private-equity firms have resumed dealmaking after a two- year lull following the global financial crisis that started in mid-2007, freezing credit markets and ending the biggest leveraged-buyout boom in history. There were $59 billion in deals in the third quarter, more than triple the amount a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

American Securities, which was founded in 1947 by a Sears Roebuck & Co. heir, has invested in companies including vacuum- cleaner maker Oreck Corp. and the El Pollo Loco chain of chicken restaurants, according to its website. The firm was a runner-up at the recent sales of Air Medical Group Holdings Inc. and Aspen Dental Management Inc., both owned by private-equity firms, according to a person with knowledge of the sales.

Air Medical, Aspen Dental
Leonard Green & Partners, the Los Angeles-based private- equity firm, is buying Aspen Dental from Ares Management LLC. Bain Capital LLC, the Boston-based leveraged buyout-fund manager, is acquiring Air Medical from Brockway Moran & Partners Inc. and MVP Capital Partners.

Kool Smiles caters to children enrolled in Medicaid, a federal-state health insurance program for the poor, and other state health insurance plans, according to Friedman Fleischer’s website. Some firms that looked at Kool Smiles were concerned that it was too reliant on Medicaid payments as governments face deficits, said one person familiar with the auction.

Private-equity firms are increasingly buying companies from each other as more than half the companies that submitted plans for U.S. IPOs in 2010 have yet to complete them. Sales among buyout firms allow the seller to return cash to investors, while the acquirer is able to deploy unused capital that was raised during the boom. Clients saw distributions last year fall to the lowest level since at least 2000, according to London-based research firm Preqin.

Opening Clinics
Smile Brands Group Inc., a separate dental chain backed by private-equity firm Freeman Spogli & Co., scrapped an initial public offering in May. The company, which relies on patients with private insurance for most of its revenue, is now shopping itself in a sale process that is still in early stages, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

American Securities plans to expand Kool Smiles’ main business of opening clinics in places where access to dentists and other medical services is limited, the person said.

TPG has been pursuing deals. The Fort Worth, Texas-based firm and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s buyout arm agreed in July to purchase Belgian diaper-maker Ontex NV for $1.55 billion from London-based private-equity firm Candover Investments Plc. TPG also acquired a 35 percent stake in Creative Artists Agency for an undisclosed amount in a deal announced Oct. 1.

Friedman Fleischer has more than $2 billion under management, according to its website. Its holdings include Korn/Ferry International, the executive-recruiting firm, and Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd., a Bermuda-based property reinsurance company.

--Editors: Elizabeth Wollman, Larry Edelman
To contact the reporters on this story: Cristina Alesci in New York at Calesci2@bloomberg.net; Jeffrey McCracken in New York at jmccracken3@bloomberg.net; Jason Kelly in New York at jkelly14@bloomberg.net.