HBF has announced it will make a strategic investment in dental services company Pacific Smiles Group.
The company said it is acquiring a 10 per cent interest from TDM Growth Partners for approximately $41.9 million.
The investment follows HBF and Pacific Smiles entering into a 10-year partnership agreement in July 2020 to support the insurer's expansion into dental services in Western Australia.
Since then, five HBF Dental centres have been established in the state, which are managed by Pacific Smiles. HBF members outside Western Australia can access Member Plus dental benefits at Pacific Smiles’ network of 119 dental centres in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and the ACT.
HBF CEO John Van Der Wielen said the strategic investment in Pacific Smiles would further strengthen its relationship with a key partner.
“Dental represents approximately 60 per cent of our ancillary payments and we know our members want access to high quality oral healthcare,” said Mr Van Der Wielen.
“We partnered with Pacific Smiles because they have a track record in establishing and operating high quality dental clinics that deliver excellent customer service and clinical outcomes – our members are seeing this at the five HBF Dental centres we’ve opened in WA this year and at Pacific Smiles’ extensive network of clinics elsewhere.
“This strategic investment further strengthens our relationship with a key partner and is in line with our strategy of building scale nationally and expanding into health services in order to enhance the value and service we provide HBF members.”