Navigating the Dental Practice Selling Process
Navigating the Dental Practice Sales Process
Selling your dental practice is a significant decision, and at Henry Schein Dental Practice Sales, formerly MediEstates, we are here to support you throughout the entire process. Our experienced team will guide you through the key stages, ensuring a successful and stress-free selling experience and enabling you to maintain confidentiality throughout the sale process.
Stage 1
Generating Interest
The process begins by generating interest among potential buyers. We use our extensive network and marketing strategies to attract multiple interested parties, creating a competitive environment that maximises the value of your dental practice.
Stage 2
Dental Buyer Viewings
Once we have interested parties, dental buyer viewings commence. We facilitate face-to-face communication between you and potential buyers, discussing the value drivers that make your practice successful and aligning them with the buyer's goals.
Stage 3
Outline Offers & Selecting Bidders
After meeting with potential buyers, we gather and review outline offers. Understanding each bidder's perception of your practice's value and their funding position we strategize how to handle each bidder effectively.
Stage 4
Competitive Negotiation
Our team excels in competitive negotiation, ensuring that your dental practice gets the best possible offer, with post-sale terms that align with your goals. We maintain control during this stage, driving value and leveraging offers to their optimum level.
Stage 5
Heads of Terms & Deposit Agreement
We actively participate in structuring the Heads of Terms and liaising with legal representatives on both sides of the deal. This ensures terms that maximise your position, and we arrange for the dental buyer to place a holding deposit, securing the deal on your behalf.
Stage 6
Due Diligence & CQC Process
Our in-house due diligence specialist will help you stay on top of the due diligence process, providing up-to-date and detailed guidance to both you and the buyer. This keeps the process moving smoothly and avoids potential delays. Additionally, we guide you through the CQC process, which can be quite lengthy and complicated to navigate alone.
Stage 7
Legal Process & Completion
We work closely with your chosen legal advisers or specialist dental solicitor partners, ensuring regular updates and all parties calls to create a seamless legal process. Our goal is to create a solid agreement between the parties involved, leading to a successful and timely completion of the dental practice acquisition.
Experience a Smooth Selling Journey with Us
At Henry Schein Dental Practice Sales, we are dedicated to delivering maximum value and success for your dental practice sale. Trust our expert team to navigate each key stage of the selling process, making your journey a smooth and rewarding one.
Book your valuation today and secure your practice's financial future.
How Henry Schein Dental Practice Sales Helps You at Every Stage of the Selling Process
Prepare Your Dental Practice for Sale
Early preparation is the single most effective way to ensure a smooth transaction. Our evidence-based, no-obligation valuation gathers detailed financials, NHS contract data and operational metrics to benchmark your practice against recent UK transactions and highlight opportunities to increase the value long before you reach the marketing stage.
Evidence-Based Dental Practice Valuation
Every appraisal is delivered by a specialist,, producing a clear report that explains EBITDA adjustments, current market multiples and exit-planning options. We valued more than 2,600 practices and brought £640m worth of practices to market between May 2020 and May 2025, so you can rely on us throughout the whole sales process.
Generate Competitive Buyer Interest
With a live database exceeding 6,000 active buyers including independents, corporates, small groups and corporates, we create immediate competition for well-priced practices.
Conduct Confidential Buyer Viewings
Our team schedules in-person viewings around your clinical diary and briefs each potential buyer . Face-to-face dialogue helps buyers visualise post-acquisition plans and achieves stronger, more realistic offers. We arrange approximately six viewings per practice*, and can provide assisted viewings too.
Negotiate Market-Leading Offers
Offers come in to our specialist team and we handle all negotiations on behalf of both parties. We work to get offers from multiple buyers and present counteroffers to get you the best outcome.deal. The most common area of negotiation is the sale price but we handle negotiations around payment terms and deal structures too. .
Manage Heads of Terms / Memorandum of Sale
Once an offer is accepted we issue a non-binding outline of the deal for your buyer to sign, known as a Memorandum of Sale. Clear documentation at this stage moves the practice into Sold Subject to Contract (SSTC).
Navigate Due Diligence and CQC Applications
Our specialist team issues a pre-sale checklist so you can collate accounts, lease information and compliance paperwork before buyer solicitors request them, removing the most common source of delay.
Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to our most frequently asked questions from our clients.
How long will it take to sell my dental practice?
The length of time can vary depending on the practice type and buyer type. Typically a practice sale completes within 4-10 months. For a more detailed discussion about your own circumstances please contact us.
When is the right time to sell my dental practice?
This very much depends on your lifestyle goals and your timeline for exiting the business. In some transactions, the buyer may ask you to work on for 1-5 years and so it is important to plan ahead and ensure you start the sale process early enough to match your proposed timeline. It’s also vital to think about which type of dental buyer you want to sell the business to, as this may impact upon your planned exit date.
What are the current dental market trends?
Dental practices continue to be appealing purchases for both independent and corporate buyers with the banks and private equity investors keen to lend within the sector. As the market is fluid it is best to reach out to us for a valuation. Each practice is unique and our regional Business Development Managers will be able to advise you on the current market trends that will impact your particular practice and when the best time is to sell.
What do buyers look for in a dental practice purchase?
A dental buyer will want to see growth potential within a dental practice and the available chair-capacity or expansion space to capitalise on this. Stability is really important post sale, so a buyer will benefit from a steady in-flow of patients and a stable clinical and support team. Having an appealing physical environment is also important to attract buyer interest.
What documentation will I have to prepare to sell my dental practice?
The due diligence process is often the biggest time commitment for sellers. We have an in-house due-diligence specialist who will support you through the sale and can provide you with a checklist early on the in the process so you can start to prepare the required documentation.
