Henry Schein Establishes Presence In South Africa With An Investment In The Dental Warehouse

MELVILLE, N.Y., Oct. 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ: HSIC), the world's largest provider of health care products and services to office-based dental, animal health and medical practitioners, announced today its expansion into South Africa with the acquisition of a minority ownership position in The Dental Warehouse, a leading distributor of dental consumable merchandise to dentists, private clinics, universities and governmental agencies in the country.  Financial and other terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

With headquarters in Johannesburg and sales offices in Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria and Springs, The Dental Warehouse has 64 employees and annual revenues of approximately $10 million.  Under the leadership of co-founders Louis Ichikowitz and Bernice Ichikowitz, the company offers branded consumables products and enjoys exclusive relationships with multiple manufacturers.

"We are delighted to partner with Louis and Bernice Ichikowitz and the entire team at Dental Warehouse, an organization that has enjoyed a 40-year history of serving the dental community in South Africa," said Stanley M. Bergman, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Henry Schein.  "This is a strategic transaction for Henry Schein that continues to expand our geographic footprint and further strengthen relationships with our valued supplier partners."

Litha Healthcare Group Limited, an integrated health care solutions provider in South Africa, has also acquired a minority interest in The Dental Warehouse as part of a strategic partnership with Henry Schein.  Litha offers a wide range of medical devices and consumables, which will provide The Dental Warehouse with additional access to new products and technologies. 

"We are pleased to partner with Dental Warehouse and Henry Schein," said Selwyn Kahanovitz, Chief Executive Officer of Litha Healthcare Group.  "We look forward to our new partnership and growing our business with a focus on expanding our customer offering."

"As economic reforms in South Africa promote the accelerating emergence of a new middle class, consumers are increasingly benefiting from private health insurance and access to dental care," added Mr. Bergman.

"Henry Schein welcomes the opportunity to work with The Dental Warehouse and Litha to offer practitioners in the region the products and services needed to operate successful practices and provide quality care to the growing number of patients seeking their services."

Henry Schein's expansion into South Africa brings the Company's global operations to 25 countries across North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Asia.

About Litha Healthcare Group Limited

Litha Healthcare Group Limited is a diversified healthcare group, providing services, products and solutions to public and private hospitals, pharmacies, general and allied practitioners, as well as government healthcare programmes in South Africa.   Headquartered in Midrand, South Africa, the healthcare group has over 475 employees and is currently the only truly diversified healthcare company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).  The Litha Group is the result of the successful acquisition by Myriad Medical Holdings Limited of Litha Healthcare Holdings (Proprietary) Limited in 2010, which led to the merged Group moving from the AltX to the main board of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.  The Group's businesses include the following areas of healthcare:  

• Litha Pharma: generic, originator and complementary medicines
• Litha Medical: devices, consumables and equipment
• Litha Biotech: human vaccines

The leadership team brings together a group of highly regarded professionals with many years of experience within the South African healthcare sector.  The Company's growth strategy is to align the value propositions within each of its three divisions, in order to capitalise on the varied needs of the healthcare environment.  Litha Healthcare Group's operations are focused on harnessing its unique product offering to achieve its company Mission of, "actively participating in and contributing to the creation of a healthier society, through the provision of integrated healthcare."

About Henry Schein, Inc.

Henry Schein, Inc. is the world's largest provider of health care products and services to office-based dental, animal health and medical practitioners.  The Company also serves dental laboratories, government and institutional health care clinics, and other alternate care sites.   A Fortune 500® Company and a member of the NASDAQ 100® Index, Henry Schein employs nearly 16,000 Team Schein Members and serves more than 775,000 customers.  The Company offers a comprehensive selection of products and services, including value-added solutions for operating efficient practices and delivering high-quality care.  Henry Schein operates through a centralized and automated distribution network, with a selection of more than 96,000 branded products and Henry Schein private-brand products in stock, as well as more than 110,000 additional products available as special-order items. The Company also offers its customers exclusive, innovative technology solutions, including practice management software and e-commerce solutions, as well as a broad range of financial services.

Headquartered in Melville, N.Y., Henry Schein has operations or affiliates in 25 countries.  The Company's sales reached a record $8.9 billion in 2012, and have grown at a compound annual rate of 17% since Henry Schein became a public company in 1995.  For more information, visit the Henry Schein Web site at www.henryschein.com.

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In accordance with the "Safe Harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, we provide the following cautionary remarks regarding important factors that, among others, could cause future results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements, expectations and assumptions expressed or implied herein.  All forward-looking statements made by us are subject to risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance.  These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance and achievements or industry results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.  These statements are identified by the use of such terms as "may," "could," "expect," "intend," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "forecast," "project," "anticipate" or other comparable terms.  A full discussion of our operations and financial condition, including factors that may affect our business and future prospects, is contained in documents we have filed with the SEC and will be contained in all subsequent periodic filings we make with the SEC. These documents identify in detail important risk factors that could cause our actual performance to differ materially from current expectations.

Risk factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current and historical results include, but are not limited to: effects of a highly competitive market; our dependence on third parties for the manufacture and supply of our products; our dependence upon sales personnel, customers, suppliers and manufacturers; our dependence on our senior management; fluctuations in quarterly earnings; risks from expansion of customer purchasing power and multi-tiered costing structures; possible increases in the cost of shipping our products or other service issues with our third-party shippers; general global macro-economic conditions; disruptions in financial markets; possible volatility of the market price of our common stock; changes in the health care industry; implementation of health care laws; failure to comply with regulatory requirements and data privacy laws; risks associated with our global operations; transitional challenges associated with acquisitions and joint ventures, including the failure to achieve anticipated synergies; financial risks associated with acquisitions and joint ventures; litigation risks; the dependence on our continued product development, technical support and successful marketing in the technology segment; risks from rapid technological change; risks from disruption to our information systems; 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.  We caution that these factors may not be exhaustive and that many of these factors are beyond our ability to control or predict.  Accordingly, any forward-looking statements contained herein should not be relied upon as a prediction of actual results.  We undertake no duty and have no obligation to update forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Henry Schein, Inc.