Member Article

Record dental industry deals last year, say accountants

The specialist Dental Business team at North East accountancy practice UNW say the last quarter of 2013 saw more dental sector deals than ever before.

UNW’s division said funding for acquisitions came from Santander, RBS and Lloyds - indicating healthy appetite for the sector.

2014 has also started well, with two practice acquisitions in excess of £1m in progress with the Newcastle-based firm.

UNW dental specialist partner Alan Suggett said “I’m delighted, not only with record total amount of the deals, but also with the geographical spread from Northumberland to the Midlands, via Durham, Yorkshire and Greater Manchester.

“Three of the deals were for practices worth more than £1 million, which goes to show that the large dental corporates aren’t having it all their own way.”

Meanwhile, UNW has also developed a multi-purpose forecasting system for dentists – ‘The practice acquisition viability forecast’.

This tool enables prospective buyers to evaluate how much profit, and more importantly disposable income, they will have if they buy a practice.

The forecast is cleverly designed so that dentists can easily plug-in different scenarios, evaluating the impact of different factors such as the number of sessions they work, changes in bank interest rates etc.

Suggett said: “Although other forecasting systems are in use, the UNW system is perhaps unique in that it incorporates tax calculation modules (either for income tax, corporation tax, or both), so that all factors are taken into account in the viability evaluation.

“Dental bank managers appreciate the viability forecast, as it helps them prepare lending applications for their underwriters and this is why UNW often receives bank referrals.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by unw LLP .