Facilitating Growth Through Acquisition

ReachOut was founded in 2001 by two seasoned business executives with a deep-rooted desire to serve the 27 million U.S. children who were not receiving adequate dental care through a unique mobile model. Having built a rapidly growing business, in 2007, the founders sought a financial partner to help ReachOut achieve its significant unrealized growth potential as well as to address their estate planning goals. Sentinel was selected from a small group of potential private equity firms because of our proven record in dental services as well as the strong relationship formed with the founders during the sale process.

• To acquire a leading provider of mobile dental services to large, underserved populations that could serve as a platform to consolidate a fragmented and underdeveloped industry
• To capitalize on ReachOut’s first-mover advantage and continue its rapid growth trajectory by acquiring small competitors to expand into new states and increase penetration into existing states
• To partner with ReachOut’s talented and committed founders, who coinvested meaningfully alongside Sentinel and continued to manage the business

Growth Through Acquisition: Under Sentinel’s ownership, ReachOut successfully completed two significant add-on acquisitions that transformed the business into the clear national leader.

• Shortly after the closing, in August 2008, ReachOut acquired Detroit-based Mobile Dentists to create the clear industry leader with a national footprint. Founded in 1995 by two entrepreneurial dentists, Mobile Dentists had successfully expanded utilizing a similar mobile dental model serving underserved populations. ReachOut had primarily expanded in the western U.S. whereas Mobile Dentists’ footprint was in the eastern U.S. Mobile Dentists’ founders joined ReachOut’s board and became senior executives.
• In early 2010, ReachOut acquired Help A Child Smile, the largest mobile dental services provider in the state of Georgia, from its entrepreneur dentist founder, thereby further expanding its leadership position.

Built Financial Infrastructure: ReachOut recruited a seasoned dental-services CFO, implemented new accounting and operational software platforms, and integrated three businesses onto these common systems.

After more than three years, Sentinel and management had quadrupled the size of the business and successfully achieved the growth objectives we established at the outset. ReachOut was operating in 25 states and serving more than 425,000 children, seniors, and military personnel each year. In December 2010, the business was sold to a new private equity sponsor in a successful transaction for Sentinel and its management partners.