Carlyle, GS Group to buy Korean dental scanner maker

US private equity giant The Carlyle Group and South Korean energy-to-retail conglomerate GS Group will acquire Medit Corp., the world’s third-largest 3D dental scanner maker.

South Korean mid-market-focused PE firm Unison Capital Inc., Medit’s top shareholder, and Citigroup Global Markets, the advisor for the deal, on Tuesday are set to select the Carlyle-GS consortium as the preferred bidder for a 100% stake in the local dental scanning solutions provider, according to investment banking sources.

The consortium was known to have offered the highest bid at the low-3 trillion won ($2.1 billion) level in the final bidding last week, beating global PE firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), those sources said on Tuesday. Unison and the consortium are scheduled to sign a stock purchase agreement in mid-November.

Carlyle plans to bear 90% of the deal price, while GS will take care of the rest. The South Korean conglomerate was understood to have secured the right to buy Medit when Carlyle sells the company.

The US PE behemoth failed to take over Medit in 2019 as Unison bet 320 billion won for a controlling stake in the company.

In July this year, Unison put Medit on the market with an expected price tag of up to 4 trillion won.

BIO EXPANSION

The purchase marked GS’ second acquisition in the bio sector in about one year. GS in August last year bought South Korea’s top botox maker Hugel Inc. at 1.7 trillion won from Bain Capital.

The group has been seeking new businesses to reorganize its business structure centered on energy and refining.

“GS has been active in M&As since Chairman Huh Tae-soo took office,” said an investment banking industry source. “The Medit deal was done despite growing uncertainties in the market as GS was aggressive.”

Medit, founded in 2000, has been accelerating growth through active expansions in overseas markets since 2019 when it was acquired by Unison. The company focused on upgrading software to cut costs and raise profitability.

Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) nearly tripled to 103.9 billion won last year from 36.7 billion won in 2019 with sales more than doubling to 190.6 billion won last year from 72.2 billion won during the period.

Write to Chae-Yeon Kim and Jun-Ho Cha at why29@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.