Every year begins and ends with reflection, goal setting, and plans for actualizing those goals. As we kick off 2025, we are pleased to announce that Smile Partners USA has accepted and finalized a strategic investment from a new continuation fund managed by Silver Oak and secured by commitments from BlackRock and Hollyport Capital in addition to support from new and existing investors. You’ve likely read our press release, and if you’re a member of the SPUSA team, you’ve read the information shared by our CEO Dave Gaspar. To reiterate the information in those communications, and to put it frankly, our team is abuzz discussing the possibilities that are before us. Growth, the kind of rapid and healthy growth we’ve come to expect at SPUSA, can expand further. Our goals are big: investment in the people, tools, and places necessary to expand our mission of creating legendary patient experiences. It’s important to us that we share the highlights of this transaction, the why behind this strategic investment, and what the future holds.
Investment Highlights
- Silver Oak first invested in Smile Partners USA in 2017
- Continued investment and the inclusion of additional investors signifies the well-earned belief in SPUSA shared by those investors
- This investment will result in additional growth for SPUSA and our partners
The continued support and investment from Silver Oak et al will mean a continuation of the exponential growth we’ve experienced since the first investment in 2017. However, it’s important to note that no investment, no matter how big or small, can result in success without a team of exceptional people driving the day-to-day operations, working together in commitment to the ethos that serves as the foundation of our company. Our people, our teammates, are the reason we succeed.
Who are Silver Oak Services, BlackRock Alternatives, and Hollyport Capital?
Founded in 2005, Silver Oak Services is based in Evanston, IL and is a lower middle market private equity firm focused on partnering with exceptional management teams to build industry leading business, consumer, and healthcare services companies. BlackRock Alternatives serves investors seeking outperformance in real estate, infrastructure, private equity, credit, hedge funds and alternative solutions. They manage $320B in alternative investments and commitments on behalf of clients worldwide. Hollyport Capital, founded in 2007, is a specialist secondaries investor based in London and New York with over $2 billion in assets under management. Currently investing its seventh fund, the firm focuses on the acquisition of legacy private equity assets in the secondary market.
Why is an investment important for the growth of SPUSA?
One of the unique and vital characteristics of Smile Partners USA partnerships is that we maintain the individuality of every doctor partner and their practice while creating a common bond, or thread, that connects us. That connection is rooted in our shared mission to provide exceptional care to the people who walk through the doors of every practice we’re associated with. As we add additional partners to our network, our reach grows and so does the need for support. Providing support that is the same exceptional quality as the care that each office provides to the public is imperative to our connection and success. Investing in the people, tools, processes, and places needed to help each SPUSA partner not just experience expected growth but to thrive and unlock new opportunities rooted in the creativity of the individuals who make up our network is possible with the capital needed to handle the logistics.
Prior to investment from Silver Oak in 2017, Smile Partners USA had 35 thriving practices in our network. Today we have grown to 110+ and we are continuing to grow. We celebrate the success of our doctor partners and the network as a whole. As we expand into new markets, develop our existing markets, and create new strategic partnerships with dental offices that share our values and mission, we can create even more legendary patient experiences. And that’s what Smile Partners USA is really all about.