Press Release Details

MELVILLE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 21, 2006--Henry Schein, Inc. (Nasdaq: HSIC), the largest provider of healthcare products and services to office-based practitioners in the combined North American and European markets, today announced that it will acquire the assets of Island Dental Co., Inc., Darby Medical Supply Co. and Darby Dental Laboratory Supply Co., Inc. from privately-held Darby Group Companies.

Together these three businesses had 2005 sales of approximately $219 million. The acquisition is expected to be slightly accretive to Henry Schein's 2006 diluted EPS, and to add approximately $0.01 to $0.03 to 2007 diluted EPS. Henry Schein expects these transactions to close during the third quarter of 2006 and anticipates that upon integration it will realize operational efficiencies from the acquisition. The Company indicated that the purchase price was approximately $51.5 million to be paid in cash.

"The acquisition of these three businesses is an excellent match with Henry Schein's U.S. operations, and affords deeper penetration in our Dental and Medical divisions," said Stanley M. Bergman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Henry Schein. "Furthermore, Island Dental, Darby Medical Supply and Darby Dental Laboratory Supply share with Henry Schein a customer-focused culture, with a commitment to personalized service and attention to detail. We also share a commitment to partnering with customers to facilitate their business and financial success, and to providing an extensive product offering at competitive prices. We look forward to offering new products, services and programs to our new customers and sales representatives."

Island Dental is a full-service distributor of dental merchandise and equipment with a nationwide presence, with particular strength in the Northeast, Southeast and Western United States. The company provides its customers with a selection of more than 45,000 products. The Island Dental business will be integrated into Henry Schein's Sullivan-Schein Dental division.

Darby Medical Supply provides medical supplies and pharmaceutical products including generic drugs, branded drugs and vaccines to small medical practices nationwide, primarily through telesales and direct marketing. Darby Medical Supply will become part of Henry Schein's Medical Group.

Darby Dental Laboratory Supply is a full-line distributor serving the dental lab community nationwide, primarily through direct marketing, with more than 25,000 products. The company has been in business for more than 50 years, and enjoys several product exclusives. Darby Dental Laboratory Supply will be integrated into Henry Schein's Zahn Dental Laboratory division.

About Henry Schein

Henry Schein, a Fortune 500(R) company, is recognized for its excellent customer service and highly competitive prices. The Company's four business groups - Dental, Medical, International and Technology - serve more than 500,000 customers worldwide, including dental practices and laboratories, physician practices and veterinary clinics, as well as government and other institutions. The Company operates through a centralized and automated distribution network, which provides customers in more than 200 countries with a comprehensive selection of more than 70,000 national and Henry Schein private-brand products in stock, as well as over 100,000 additional products available to our customers as special order items.

Henry Schein also offers a wide range of innovative value-added practice solutions for healthcare professionals, such as ArubA(R), the Company's electronic catalog and ordering system. Its leading practice-management software solutions have been installed in more than 50,000 practices, including DENTRIX(R) and Easy Dental(R) for dental practices, and AVImark(R) for veterinary clinics.

Headquartered in Melville, N.Y., Henry Schein employs nearly 11,000 people and has operations in 19 countries. The Company's sales reached a record $4.6 billion in 2005. For more information, visit the Henry Schein Web site at www.henryschein.com.

In accordance with the "Safe Harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, we provide the following cautionary remarks regarding important factors which, among others, could cause future results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements, expectations and assumptions expressed or implied herein. All forward-looking statements made by us are subject to risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance and achievements, or industry results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These statements are identified by the use of such terms as "may," "could," "expect," "intend," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "forecast," "project," "anticipate" or other comparable terms.

A full discussion of our operations and financial condition, including factors that may affect our business and future prospects, is contained in documents we have filed with the SEC and will be contained in all subsequent periodic filings we make with the SEC. These documents identify in detail important risk factors that could cause our actual performance to differ materially from current expectations.

Risk factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current and historical results include, but are not limited to: competitive factors; changes in the healthcare industry; changes in government regulations that affect us; financial risks associated with our international operations; fluctuations in quarterly earnings; our dependence on third parties for the manufacture and supply of our products; transitional challenges associated with acquisitions; regulatory and litigation risks; the dependence on our continued product development, technical support and successful marketing in the technology segment; our dependence upon sales personnel and key customers; our dependence on our senior management; possible increases in the cost of shipping our products or other service trouble with our third-party shippers; risks from rapid technological change; risks from potential increases in variable interest rates; financial risks associated with acquisitions; possible volatility of the market price of our common stock; certain provisions in our governing documents that may discourage third-party acquisitions of us; and changes in tax legislation that affect us. The order in which these factors appear should not be construed to indicate their relative importance or priority.

We caution that these factors may not be exhaustive and that many of these factors are beyond our ability to control or predict. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a prediction of actual results. We undertake no duty and have no obligation to update forward-looking statements.

CONTACT: Henry Schein, Inc.
Steven Paladino, 631-843-5500
steven.paladino@henryschein.com
OR
Susan Vassallo, 631-843-5562
susan.vassallo@henryschein.com
SOURCE: Henry Schein, Inc.