QT Vascular to acquire 3 Eastern Dental Surgery clinics for S$1.3m

EASTERN Dental Centre, a 60 per cent-owned subsidiary of medtech company QT Vascular 5I0 : 5I0 0% , has entered into conditional sale and purchase agreements (SPAs) to acquire the businesses of 3 Eastern Dental Surgery clinics for a total of S$1.3 million.

The three clinics are namely the branches at Jurong West, Bukit Batok and Jurong East, and collectively make up the Eastern Dental Surgery Group, the company said in a regulatory filing on Thursday (Mar 17) evening.

In terms of the breakdown of cost, the Jurong West branch cost S$472,500; the Bukit Batok branch was S$451,500, and the Jurong East branch's price was S$332,500.

QT Vascular noted that the total purchase consideration represents a premium of 2,094.2 per cent over the net total assets of Eastern Dental Surgery Group.

However the firm believes that the acquisition of profitable dental practices with proven track records is in the interests of the company as it will support and strengthen its investments and ventures in the healthcare business.

Eastern Dental Surgery Group has 3 resident dentists - Chiam Tok Joon, Chee Ai Guat and Peh Gek Yock. The trio were listed as the sellers of the Jurong West and Bukit Batok branches, with one Ahmad Bin Mohamed Fadjiar listed as an additional seller of the latter branch. For the Jurong East clinic, Chiam and Chee were listed as the sellers.

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The sellers were introduced to QT Vascular by Jimmy Gian, the company's chief operating officer for dental.

Based on Eastern Dental Surgery Group's unaudited combined pro forma financial statements for the fiscal year ended Dec 31, 2021, the group reported net profit before and after tax of S$380,000 and S$315,000 respectively. The group's net book value and net tangible assets stood at approximately S$60,000.

Factors that played a role in the purchase consideration included the location of operations of the branches - which is in the western part of Singapore where the QT Vascular currently does not have any dental clinic presence - as well as the customer base and future prospects of Eastern Dental Surgery Group.

The acquisition is conditional upon the execution by each seller of all necessary forms, notices, and approvals to authorise and effect the transfer or change of ownership of the business, among other factors.

In line with the SPAs, there will also be a handover period of 3 years following the completion of the acquisition, where the sellers will continue to work in the respective clinics to facilitate a smooth handover.

QT Vascular said it intends to retain the working team of the respective clinics beyond the working term and to further expand the team to better support the operations of the Eastern Dental Surgery Group.

Shares of QT Vascular ended Thursday flat at S$0.005.