Medbase, a Swiss provider of medical and paramedical services, is acquiring a majority stake in the Ardentis Group, an independent group of dental clinics in Western Switzerland. As part of the transaction, Medbase will acquire a stake in Ardentis from Columna Capital. Dr Mark Bischof and other executives from the company will remain minority shareholders, in particular Dr Tiphanie Jolivet, Dr Marc El Hage, Yves Corthésy and other clinic directors. Dr Rabah Nedir, one of the two founders alongside Bischof, will leave the shareholder base.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Ardentis has been active in French-speaking Switzerland for over 30 years, operating dental practices in urban areas, as well as its own dental laboratory at its headquarters in Puidoux. The company employs a total of around 450 people, including over 100 dentists.
Until the takeover, the firm has been co-led by two of its founders. Following the transaction, Bischof and Corthésy will continue to lead the Ardentis Group as co-CEOs. New members of the board are Marcel Napierala, CEO of Medbase, Christophe Bornand, head of Medbase Western Switzerland and Christian Spliethoff, CEO of zahnarztzentrum.ch.
Dentistry is one of the strategic growth areas of the Medbase Group. It already operates one of the largest dentistry groups in German-speaking Switzerland with zahnarztzentrum.ch at 43 locations. It has around 1,000 employees. Medbase, part of the Migros Group, acquired zahnarztzentrum.ch from G Square in 2020.
The two companies zahnarztzentrum.ch and Ardentis will continue to operate independently of each other. All locations will continue to operate while maintaining the proven treatment philosophy.
“We see dentistry as an important part of primary medical care,” said Napierala. “Ardentis has attractive locations and is anchored in French-speaking Switzerland as a leading dentistry group. With the company, we can consistently continue our strategy of integrated care and now also further expand our activities in this area in French-speaking Switzerland.”
