Hillhouse Investment, a China-based alternative asset manager, has acquired a 17% stake in Modern Dental Group, a Hong Kong company that manufactures crowns, dentures, and clear aligners on a contract basis and supplies them to dental clinics worldwide.

According to Bloomberg, Hillhouse disclosed to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it purchased 161.2 million shares of Modern Dental Group at HK$5.8 per share in an off-market transaction on January 19. The deal totals roughly HK$935 million, or about 160 billion won (at an exchange rate of 1,340 won per dollar).

A Company That Manufactures Crowns and Dentures on Contract

Founded in 1986, Modern Dental Group supplies dental clinics and dental labs across Europe, North America, Greater China, Australia, and Southeast Asia with both fixed prosthetics, such as crowns and bridges, and removable prosthetics, such as dentures. It also makes clear aligners, mouthguards, and anti-snoring devices. The company is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of roughly 830 billion won (US$620 million). Hillhouse already held a stake of less than 1% before this transaction.

An illustration connecting four steps with arrows: intraoral scan, data transfer, production at an overseas contract lab, and delivery to the dentist
How Data Scanned at the Dentist Comes Back as a Finished Prosthetic

Hillhouse Keeps Placing Bets on the Dental Industry

Hillhouse is known as a major investor across healthcare broadly, but it has also steadily expanded its bets in dentistry. Implant maker Neoss and clear-aligner software company uLab Systems join firms like DeepCare and Alliedstar on the list of dental-related companies Hillhouse has invested in. Modern Dental Group's share price has risen 26% over the past year but has fallen 3% so far this year.

An illustration linking four areas, implants, biomaterials, orthodontic software, and contract prosthetics manufacturing, to a central circle with lines
Where Hillhouse Has Put Its Money in the Dental Industry

Since Modern Dental Group has no branch office or official distributor in Korea, this stake deal is unlikely to have a direct impact on dental care in Korea. That said, the list of dental-related companies Hillhouse has invested in also includes Purgo Biologics, a dental biomaterials company headquartered in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Where the capital that makes crowns and dentures flows across borders is something Korea's dental lab industry should also keep an eye on.