Medit's wireless oral scanner, i700 / Courtesy of Medit

By Lee Min-hyung

MBK Partners has acquired Medit, a Seoul-based 3D dental scanner and solutions provider, for 2.4 trillion won ($1.89 billion), the private equity firm said Thursday.

Under the contract, MBK Partners will acquire a 99.5 percent stake in Medit from its largest shareholder, Unison Capital. The acquisition took place about a month after MBK was picked as the preferred bidder for the high-profile deal which attracted a group of the world's renowned private equity and investment firms ― such as Carlyle, KKR and Blackstone.

Medit founder Jang Min-ho and the firm's specially related parties also agreed to reinvest a considerable amount of revenue into the company. They will remain as joint investors with MBK. The deal is expected to close sometime around the first quarter of 2023.

The acquisition took place amid projections of the dental scanner market here and abroad growing 30 percent each year until 2027.

Medit is a global leader in the market for dental scanner solutions. The company secured a market share of 22 percent in 2020, and the portion rose to 24 percent this year. According to multiple market researchers, the global dental scanner market has grown 24 percent each year on average since 2018. The figure is also expected to rise to 28 percent between 2023 and 2027.

The Korean firm started expanding its global footing in the industry from 2018 and has so far established branches in major countries such as the United States, Germany and China. The company runs 230 dealerships in around 100 countries across the globe.

Medit's earnings are also on the steep rise. The company generated sales of 190.5 billion won last year, but this year's sales are estimated to have soared to around 270 billion won. Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) also reached 105.9 billion won last year, but they are expected to reach 150 billion won this year.

"We have shared a common view of developing Medit into a globally renowned digital dental platform operator by building an ecosystem encompassing not just dental scanners, but medical teams, dealerships, solutions and devices," MBK said. "We are pleased to partner with Medit."

The dental scanner industry was an oligopoly market, with a group of top five companies accounting for more than 85 percent of the total market share. But the investment banking industry forecasts Medit and 3Shape to continue to expand their dominance in the industry and intensify a two-way rivalry.