Going big in China

SINGAPORE'S largest private dental chain Q&M Dental Group is going places in China after signing four memorandums of understanding (MOUs) in the last seven months and a major deal last Tuesday.

The deals, which include profit guarantees, cost almost $50 million and see Q&M acquiring stakes in six dental hospitals as well as the maker of a promising specialist dental material. The China assets will eventually be listed in an initial public offering in Hong Kong or Singapore that might be larger than Q&M's own market value here.

"Because of these four projects we have created a lot of interest in the Chinese dental market. More and more people have come to talk to us about deals and funding," CEO Ng Chin Siau told The Business Times in a recent interview.