Henry Schein partners with J. Morita to expand presence in Japan

Henry Schein Inc. will own a 50% interest in One Piece Corp., a $125-million subsidiary of J. Morita Corp. Kenichiro (Ken) Iwase, the managing director of Iwase Dental Supply, will assume leadership of Henry Schein's expanded presence in Japan.

Henry Schein Inc. announced on March 23, 2016, that it has entered into a definitive transaction to expand its presence in Japan, the world's second largest dental market, by partnering with J. Morita Corp.

As a result of the transaction, Henry Schein will own a 50% interest in One Piece Corp., a subsidiary of J. Morita. One Piece is composed of eight dental dealers throughout Japan, which serve approximately 6,000 dental clinics and had aggregate sales of approximately $125 million in the 2015 fiscal year. Henry Schein expects the transaction to be neutral to financial results. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

This transaction builds on Henry Schein's presence in Japan, which commenced in October 2014 with an investment in Iwase Dental Supply Inc., a provider of dental consumables, implants, and equipment. Kenichiro (Ken) Iwase, the managing director of Iwase Dental Supply, will assume the leadership of Henry Schein's expanded presence in Japan.

"Japan represents an exciting strategic opportunity for Henry Schein," said Stanley M. Bergman, chairman of the board and CEO of Henry Schein Inc. "While Iwase Dental serves customers in the greater Tokyo area, the One Piece dealers are located throughout the country, giving Henry Schein Japan a wide presence in the marketplace. We look forward to other Japanese dealers joining our partnership in the near future, as well as representing the products of all our dental suppliers, with the goal of providing the highest quality in service to all Japanese dentists."

"We are especially excited to partner with J. Morita, a company we have known for many years [that] we hold in the highest regard," said Mr. Bergman. "We look forward to working together to bring new services and solutions to the Japanese dental community, and we welcome our new colleagues at One Piece to Team Schein."

Japan has approximately 90,000 dentists and an estimated 64,000 dental clinics. With the addition of One Piece, Henry Schein Japan will serve approximately 20% of Japan's dentists.

"We are very pleased to be working with Henry Schein, a global leader in oral health and a company whose values and business approach we share," said Haruo Morita, president and CEO of J. Morita. "Morita is dedicated to offering the best possible experience to patients and dental practitioners. This new partnership with Henry Schein will expand our mutual efforts to advance the dental profession in Japan for the benefit of the patient."

Morita, with 2015 fiscal year revenue of $672 million, develops equipment, distributes and retails dental products globally, and provides after-sale service. The eight dealers that comprise Morita's One Piece subsidiary are Asuka Dental Supply, based in Nara; Dentall Corp., based in Nagoya; DUS Co. Ltd., based in Kushiro; IDental Supply Co. Ltd., based in Gifu; Kuwabara Dental, based in Nigata; Oriental Dental Equipment, based in Oita; Sapporo Dental Corp., based in Sapporo; and Uchiyama Corp., based in Sendai.

"We are pleased to be joining with such highly respected partners as Morita and One Piece," said Henry Schein Japan Managing Director Ken Iwase. "Morita and One Piece share with Henry Schein a heritage of service to dental practitioners, and we look forward to working together to bring the best products and services to the Japanese dental community."

Source: Henry Schein press release 23 March 2016