Henry Schein Enters Fast-Growing Dental Market in Turkey

MELVILLE, N.Y., Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Henry Schein, Inc. (Nasdaq: HSIC), the largest provider of health care products and services to office-based practitioners, today announced it has acquired a 50% non-consolidating interest in Guney Dis Deposu (Guney), a full-service dental distribution business headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey.  The remaining 50% will be held by Ferizan Peker, whose family founded Guney in 1950.  For the past 40 years Mr. Peker has managed Guney, a leader in the EUR 90 million (USD$126 million) Turkish dental market.  Henry Schein expects the transaction to be neutral to 2010 earnings per share, and slightly accretive to 2011 earnings per share.  Financial terms were not disclosed.

"The Turkish dental market is growing rapidly at approximately 10% to 12% per year, and our investment in Guney brings to Henry Schein a well-respected, market-leading business with a 60-year history," said Stanley M. Bergman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Henry Schein.  "This strong history has been supported by a successful distribution model that we expect to maintain in order to continue to drive future sales growth."

Mr. Bergman continued, "We are fortunate that the Guney name is well-respected in Turkey, and that the company has exclusive distribution rights with many manufacturers.  We see considerable growth opportunity in Turkey, including focusing on under-penetrated brands, and introducing certain new brands and Henry Schein private-label products."

With approximately 70 team members, Guney's operations are supported from a centralized warehouse in Istanbul.  Guney had sales of EUR 17 million (USD$24 million) for the past 12 months, of which approximately 60% were from dental equipment, 35% from dental consumables and 5% from technical service.

There are approximately 23,000 dentists in Turkey; of which approximately 63% were in private practice in 2008.  There is a growing trend in aesthetic dentistry and the government is accelerating its investment in dental and oral care.

With Henry Schein's entry into the Turkish market, the Company now has operations or affiliates in 23 countries outside of the United States, including:  Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong SAR, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom

About Henry Schein

Henry Schein, a Fortune 500® company and a member of the NASDAQ 100® Index, is recognized for its excellent customer service and highly competitive prices.  The Company's five businesses – North American Dental, North American Medical, North American Animal Health, International and Technology – serve nearly 700,000 customers worldwide, including dental practitioners and laboratories, physician practices and animal health clinics, as well as government and other institutions.  The Company operates through a centralized and automated distribution network, which provides customers in more than 200 countries with a comprehensive selection of more than 90,000 national and Henry Schein private-brand products in stock, as well as more than 100,000 additional products available as special-order items.  Henry Schein also provides exclusive, innovative technology offerings for dental, medical and veterinary professionals, including value-added practice management software and electronic health record solutions.

Headquartered in Melville, N.Y., Henry Schein employs more than 13,500 people and has operations or affiliates in 24 countries.  The Company's net sales reached a record $6.5 billion in 2009.  For more information, visit the Henry Schein Web site at www.henryschein.com.

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Risk factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current and historical results include, but are not limited to: decreased customer demand and changes in vendor credit terms; disruptions in financial markets; general economic conditions; effects of a highly competitive market; changes in the healthcare industry; changes in regulatory requirements; risks from expansion of customer purchasing power and multi-tiered costing structures; risks associated with our international operations; fluctuations in quarterly earnings; our dependence on third parties for the manufacture and supply of our products; transitional challenges associated with acquisitions, including the failure to achieve anticipated synergies; financial risks associated with acquisitions; regulatory and litigation risks; the dependence on our continued product development, technical support and successful marketing in the technology segment; risks from disruption to our information systems; our dependence upon sales personnel, manufacturers and customers; our dependence on our senior management; possible increases in the cost of shipping our products or other service issues with our third-party shippers; risks from rapid technological change; possible volatility of the market price of our common stock; certain provisions in our governing documents that may discourage third-party acquisitions of us; and changes in tax legislation.  The order in which these factors appear should not be construed to indicate their relative importance or priority.

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SOURCE Henry Schein, Inc.