On Wednesday, Patient Square Capital, a healthcare investment firm, agreed to acquire Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO), a dental and animal health product distributor, for approximately $4.1 billion.
During its second-quarter earnings release, the company announced it is exploring strategic options, including a sale or merger, to boost shareholder value.
William Blair notes that based on Patient Square Capital's portfolio, which doesn't include dental or animal health companies, regulatory hurdles for this deal are unlikely.
Additionally, the analyst's dental valuation analysis suggests the offer for Patterson is strong, making it unlikely that higher bids will emerge during the 40-day window for competing offers.
The valuation analysis includes Align Technology Inc (NASDAQ:ALGN), Dentsply Sirona Inc (NASDAQ:XRAY), Henry Schein Inc (NASDAQ:HSIC), Envista Holdings Corporation (NYSE:NVST) and Europe-listed Straumann Holding.
William Blair writes that most dental companies they cover are trading at or near their lowest valuations in 15 years, as investor interest has declined due to ongoing macroeconomic challenges.
Most recently, Dentsply Sirona revised its 2024 outlook due to market pressures impacting U.S. equipment, legislative changes affecting the direct-to-consumer aligner business model, and the voluntary suspension of sales, marketing, and shipments of Byte Aligners and Impression Kits.
Henry Schein's third-quarter global dental segment sales were $1.9 billion, down 1.6%, and medical segment sales increased by 2.9% (down 4.8% internally) to $1.1 billion.
While it's still early to gauge investor reactions, the analyst is considering whether Patterson's acquisition might stabilize valuations and boost demand in the dental sector.
The analyst writes the move could support valuations and signal a potential recovery in the market, making many dental stocks appealing from a risk/reward perspective.
Among these, William Blair sees Align as having the greatest potential for stock growth, driven by improving market conditions and gains in both earnings and valuation.
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