Private equity investors are turning their attention more toward smaller DSOs in a move that is catching some industry leaders by surprise.
Haim Haviv, the founder and CEO of Hudson Dental in New York City recently joined Becker’s “Dental + DSO Virtual Event” to discuss what’s next for the DSO field and the trends he is following this year.
Editor’s note: Responses were lightly edited for length and clarity.
Question: What have been some of the most surprising trends that have emerged among DSOs this year?
Haim Haviv: One is the shortage in talent. It’s been like that for a few years, and I think that really has affected how we look at offices. It used to be that you could go in and if it’s a good deal or the terms are good, you would go and get the deal done. Now, we first look at recruitment and see the landscape there, and then we decide on the deal.
I think it’s been interesting to see how smaller platforms still get the appetite of private equity investors, whereas it used to be the aggregation, and you buy a lot and you have private equity groups coming after you. We’re seeing private equity groups going after the smaller groups that have that potential and are willing to come in earlier than to come in when you have 100 or more locations. We’re seeing private equity coming at an earlier stage, and willing to go with these smaller groups that are more nimble.
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