Smile Brands Inc. and its affiliate Johnson Family Dental have acquired the Port Hueneme office of California Dental Group. The practice sits at 305 E. Port Hueneme Road, and it will now carry the Johnson Family Dental name. The deal was announced from Irvine, California, on December 19, 2017.
Patients should see little change in who treats them. The same clinical team stays in place, still led by Dr. Joshua Barkhordar. What does change is the list of services, because the office will add orthodontics and new financing options.
Johnson Family Dental is a group practice in Central California. With this deal it has five locations: Santa Barbara, Solvang, Ventura, Camarillo and now Port Hueneme. Its offices also provide general, specialty and orthodontic care. The practice dates back to 1963. Dr. Steven Johnson bought it from his father in 2001, and since then he has grown it with new offices and services.
Dr. Johnson said the move would bring wider access to high-quality, affordable dental care across the Central Coast. He also said his team sees a big opportunity in the growing Port Hueneme community.
Even so, the partnership between the two companies is still young. Smile Brands began supporting Johnson Family Dental in June 2017. It handles business tasks such as purchasing, payroll, billing, real estate and marketing. The model is also meant to help affiliated groups grow, either through add-on acquisitions or by opening new locations.
Steve Bilt, the CEO of Smile Brands, said his company is committed to backing affiliate partners like Johnson Family Dental. He praised the group’s focus on clinical quality as well.
Smile Brands is based in Irvine. It is one of the largest providers of business support services to dental groups in the United States. Under long-term agreements, it also supports more than 350 offices in 15 states.
The company is part of the portfolio of Gryphon Investors, a San Francisco private equity firm. Gryphon focuses on middle-market companies and has managed more than $2.6 billion since 1997. It usually invests $50 million to $200 million per company. In November 2016 it closed its fourth buyout fund, Gryphon IV, at $1.1 billion. Then, in August 2017, it raised a $100 million mezzanine fund.
