Was this the meeting that started the corporate dentistry phenom?

Here is a 2004 picture of the group it appears may have been the one who planned the take over of modern dentistry. They called this meeting a “CEO Consortium “ and it took place June 10, 2004 at the “Institute at Heartland Dental Care”. All but one or two went on to become the founders of the Dental Group Practice Association which now includes corporate CEO’s in Canada and Australia as well as dental supply companies, products companies and our favorite corporate dentistry law firm, Waller Lansden  Dortch and Davis.










Pictured above is: Dr. Rick Workman, Mike Bileca, Steve Thorne, Mitchell B. Olan, Mark Freidman, Bob Fontana, Kirk Huntsman, Dr. Jeff Moos, Douglas W. Brown.

Was this the meeting where the idea to sell this illegal business model to Private Equity was born? What were the Dental Practice Acts in 2004? How many of these guys should have been in jail then? What about now?
Where are they now
Dr. Rick Workman – still with Heartland Dental, Vice President of the Dental Group Practice Association, not in jail.
Mike Bileca – Florida State Representative, still with Towncare Dental, Treasurer of the Dental Group Practice Association and not in jail.
Stephen (Steve) E. Thorne lV – remains at Pacific Dental, President of the Dental Group Practice Association and not in jail.
Mitchell B. Olan -  Still CEO of Dental Care Alliance/Gentle Dental Group Services, not in jail.
Mark E. Friedman – CEO of UAI Technology, Inc. President of Mid-Jersey Realty, LLC, Board of Directors of Klein Decisions, and not in jail.
Bob Fontana – Still reigning king at Aspen Dental, wanting to bring dental service to the “underserved” and not in jail.
R. Kirk Huntsman – Dental One, which was supported by ABN AMRO Private Equity, merged with DentalCare Partners to become DentalOne Partners, with Kirk as joined up with the disgusting Reachout Healthcare America crew, recently wrote an article on how to beat the Dental Practice Management groups he largely assisted in creating, when at the same time he started Nexus Dental Alliance, which is not a Dental Practice Management, it’s even better, it’s his Dental Practice Management Group, he has the R. Kirk and Julie M. Huntsman Foundation, he is not in jail.
Dr. Jeff Moos – Still with Mid-West Dental that merged with Mountain Dental and backed by Private Equity firm Friedman, Fleischer & Lowe of Kool Smiles fame, he is not in jail.
Douglas W. Brown – Mr. Brown is eyeball deep in a number of the dental mills, Affordable Care, DentalOne Partners, Dental Works, Dental Care Partners, Secretary of the Dental Group Practice Association, not in jail.

Kool Smiles Dental owners purchased Midwest/Mountain Dental- April 2011

Mountain Dental and Midwest Dental operated by Dr. Jeff Moos is another dental chain owned by a Private Equity firm- the same one who owns Kool Smiles-Friedman, Fleischer & Lowe, out of San Francisco!  A “Mike Lindley” is on the board of Mountain Dental.
Friedman, Fleischer & Lowe, (FFL)the private investment firm who owns and operated NCDR, LLC – Kool Smiles Dental Centers purchased Midwest Dental from Cressley & Company April 2011.
Cressley & Co, along with CIT Group were leaders in the recapitalizaition of Midwest Dental in May 2007.  Cressley purchased MWD from Svoboda.

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Here is the story from “The Middle Market”
by Anthony Noto
April 7, 2011

San Francisco-based FFL is investing out of its 2007-vintage Friedman Fleischer & Lowe Capital Partners III fund, which targets companies with enterprise values within the $50 million to $500 million range.
Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. FFL is acquiring the Mondovi, Wisc.-based target out of Thoma Cressey Bravo Fund VIII LP.
Chicago-based Thoma Cressey led a recapitalization of Midwest Dental in May 2007 and purchased all of its interests from Svoboda Collins LLC. Terms were not disclosed.
Calls to Aaron Money, the FFL partner leading the latest acquisition, were not returned. A spokesperson at Midwest Dental could not be reached.
FFL already owns two companies in the dental space. Portfolio companies NCDR LLC and DPMS Inc. provide facilities and support staff to dental groups operating under the Kool Smiles brand, according to the PE shop’s website. FFL acquired Atlanta-based NCDR and San Ramon, Calif.-based DRMS in 2004 and 2006 respectively.
[ NCDR, LLC and DPMS, Inc were really just Kool Smiles whether it be Kool Smiles 2 or Kool Smiles 3 or whatever.  They merged a few months back and guess what, they are still NCDR, LLC - Kool Smiles]
Purchasing Midwest Dental would not serve as an add-on to NCDR or DRMS. 
Other midmarket PE firms have capitalized on M&A within the dental space as well. On Dec. 29, Sentinel Capital Partners sold Phoenix-based ReachOut Healthcare America Ltd., a provider of dental support service and care to underprivileged children, seniors, and military personnel. Terms were not disclosed.
A month earlier, dental services company Smile Brands Group Inc., backed by Freeman Spogli & Co., found a new private equity owner in Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe. The price of that secondary buyout was not disclosed, but the Santa Ana, Calif. company said last April that it hoped to go public with an enterprise value of about $470 million.

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Here is the story from LBO Wire

Cressey & Co. Passing Midwest Dental To Friedman Fleische Lowe
Shasha Dai
08 April 2011
Midwest Dental Holdings, a provider of management services to dental offices, may have its third private equity owner in four years if a pending sale to Friedman Fleischer & Lowe LLC proceeds as planned.
San Francisco firm Friedman Fleischer is buying the Mondovi, Wis., company from its current owner Cressey & Co., said a person familiar with the situation.
A spokesman for Friedman Fleischer declined to comment. David Schuppan, a Cressey principal; and Jim Myer, president and chief financial officer of Midwest, didn't return calls for comment.
Midwest provides management support for functions ranging from handling back-office work and marketing to finding medical assistants and dental hygienists.

Cressey's predecessor, Thoma Cressey Bravo, bought the company in 2007 from fellow buyout firm Svoboda Collins LLC for an undisclosed sum. LBO Wire reported then that Svoboda Collins saw more than three times its money, representing an internal rate of return of over 50%. Svoboda Collins acquired Midwest in 2004.
Midwest had about 450 employees, LBO Wire reported when Thoma Cressey Bravo bought the companyin 2007. More recent financial or staffing information wasn't available.

Thoma Bravo Cressey split in 2008 into two firms, Thoma Bravo and Cressey & Co., with the latter focusing on health-care investments.
Cressey & Co. closed its current fund, Cressey & Co. Fund IV LP, with $350 million in early 2010.
Reach Cressey & Co. at 312-945-5735.
http://www.cresseyco.com
The dental services provider may have its third private equity owner in four years if the sale goes through.

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Cressey & Company
2525 West End Ave # 1175
Nashville, TN 37203-1793
(615) 369-8400

[Keystone Education and Youth Services, LLC has an office on West End Avenue in Nashville as well.  According to Bloomberg, Michael Lindley, Rodney Cawood and Tim Richter are still the top dogs over there.  They may have sold their interest to UHS, but I believe they really just did exactly what Jeff Moos did, recapitalized his income.]
Cressey & Company
233 South Wacker Dr.
Sears Tower, Ste 920
Chicago, IL  60606
312-777-4424
[Another odd factoid here, there is a Mike Lindley on the board of Mountain Dental and Midwest Dental-Mountain Dental is of the same company, but the clinics in Colorado and New Mexico are operated under the name of Mountain Dental-you can check the company filings at the Secretary of State offices in New Mexico for Mountain Dental and Secretary of State office of Iowa for Midwest Dental]

New FORBA v. Old FORBA Dismissed; Mountain Dental and more...

Looks like FORBA Holding v. all the DeRose family and several of it's entities have reached an agreement, 'confidential' of course, and the case has been dismissed with prejudice. 

Crap! I was hoping for an all out war between the sleezeballs.  However knowing what I know, I didn't think FORBA Holding had a leg to stand on, but it sure did shed some insight to the corruption among these people.

Stipulation For Dismissal 

I'm thinking that they figure they better bury the hatchet, even if it is in each other's back, and not give any more ammo to the lawsuits that will be coming their way, via the Class Action in Ohio or the suits that I'm confident will come from Moriarty-Leyendecker on behalf of the children they abused.

I'm just doubting even with all these slimballs sticking together they will NOT be able to find a high moral ground no matter how high they stack attorneys or how many nose bleeds they get.  Even now they are breaking off into EEHC, Inc and moving forward.

And...  AND...  there is a Mike Lindley (really..how many Mike Lindley can there be in the corporate dental world..) who is a Director of ...  drum roll please.....

Mountain Dental, Inc.

Mountain Dental is the western division of Dr. Jeffery Moos's Midwest Dental company.

Officers of Mountain Dental are:
Dr. Jeffery Moos -President
James Myer - Secretary

Directors:
Peter Ehrich of Cressey & Company
Mike Lindley
David Schuppan of Cressey & Company

Yes, Cressey & Company have offices in .....drum roll...

Nashville.