Case Study

Finding profit potential in a struggling private equity portfolio company

The new owners of DentalCo, a non-core business for its parent company, wanted to reverse its sudden drop in profits and market share. Bain took a "full potential" approach to profit improvement, and helped the company divest certain assets and reduce purchasing costs. Our profit improvement actions identified $1 billion in long-term profit.

  • min read

At a Glance

  • $1B long-term profit potential

The Story

Opportunity

The new owners of DentalCo* want to reverse its sudden drop in profits and loss of market share.

  • DentalCo, a worldwide leader in dental equipment manufacturing and distribution, was a non-core business for its parent company when it was purchased for a high multiple by VentureCo*
  • After the purchase, DentalCo lost market share, suffered declining profitability and was rocked by management turnover
  • VentureCo asked Bain to restore DentalCo to profitability

 

Approach

Bain took a "full potential" approach to profit improvement, assessing opportunity across four major categories.

 

Recommendations

By streamlining its current business and restructuring in the future, DentalCo significantly improved returns for VentureCo.

 

Results

The Bain plan for profit improvement of this portfolio company has beaten financial expectations in the short run and identified almost $1 billion in long-term profit potential.

* We take our clients' confidentiality seriously. While we've changed their names, the results are real.

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