Press Release Details

MELVILLE, N.Y., Oct. 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ: HSIC), the world's largest provider of health care products and services to office-based dental, animal health and medical practitioners, announced today that it has invested in Iwase Dental Supply, Inc., a leading full-service provider of dental consumables, implants and equipment in Japan.  The transaction marks Henry Schein's entrance into Japan, the world's 2^nd largest dental market, and increases to 28 the number of countries in which the Company operates.

Iwase Dental Supply's existing shareholders, including the Iwase family, will continue to hold the remaining shares of the company.  Henry Schein will not be consolidating Iwase's financial results. Financial and other terms of the transaction were not disclosed.  The Company expects the transaction to be neutral to its earnings per share in 2015.

Founded in 1926 with headquarters in Utsunomyia, Japan, Iwase Dental Supply is a privately held company with 240 team members, including 150 sales representatives.  Led by Mr. Kenichiro Iwase, the third generation of the Iwase family to lead the company, Iwase Dental Supply reported 2013 sales of $190 million. Mr. Iwase has been named Representative Director and Managing Director of Henry Schein Japan, and will continue to lead Iwase Dental Supply.

"Henry Schein is pleased to enter the world's 2^nd largest dental market alongside such a highly regarded partner as Iwase Dental Supply," said Stanley M. Bergman, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Henry Schein. "Building on the strong 89-year heritage of Iwase Dental Supply, we look forward to working with the Iwase family and benefitting from their unique market insights and decades of industry leadership. We believe the Japanese dental market, with an estimated 68,000 practicing dentists serving an aging population and increasing demand for elective dental procedures, will continue to grow in the years to come. With the expertise of Kenichiro Iwase, we expect to pursue additional transactions in the Japanese market and expand our business to meet this anticipated demand."

Iwase Dental Supply, the third largest dental dealer in Japan, operates one distribution facility and has 14 branch offices serving nine prefectures, including the eight prefectures surrounding Tokyo, as well as Iwate in northern Japan. 

"We are pleased to partner with a company similar to Iwase Dental that has been dedicated to serving dental practitioners for more than three quarters of a century," said Mr. Iwase.  "With the global resources that Henry Schein provides, our vision is to build the premiere pan-Japanese oral health distributor and we are eager to find the right strategic partners to make this a reality."

Henry Schein's dental business is the leading global distributor of products and services, including innovative digital dental technology solutions, to office-based general dental practitioners, dental specialists and dental laboratories.  The Company serves its customers through a multifaceted sales and marketing approach that includes more than 2,600 dedicated dental field sales consultants, as well as product specialists, telesales representatives and direct marketing programs.  Henry Schein's global dental business had 2013 sales of approximately $5 billion.

About Henry Schein, Inc.

Henry Schein, Inc. is the world's largest provider of health care products and services to office-based dental, animal health and medical practitioners.  The Company also serves dental laboratories, government and institutional health care clinics, and other alternate care sites.  A Fortune 500® Company and a member of the NASDAQ 100® Index, Henry Schein more than17,000 Team Schein Members and serves more than 800,000 customers.

The Company offers a comprehensive selection of products and services, including value-added solutions for operating efficient practices and delivering high-quality care.  Henry Schein operates through a centralized and automated distribution network, with a selection of more than 96,000 branded products and Henry Schein private-brand products in stock, as well as more than 110,000 additional products available as special-order items. The Company also offers its customers exclusive, innovative technology solutions, including practice management software and e-commerce solutions, as well as a broad range of financial services.

Headquartered in Melville, N.Y., Henry Schein has operations or affiliates in 28 countries.  The Company's sales reached a record $9.6 billion in 2013, and have grown at a compound annual rate of approximately 16 percent since Henry Schein became a public company in 1995.  For more information, visit the Henry Schein website at www.henryschein.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

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 that, 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: effects of a highly competitive market; our dependence on third parties for the manufacture and supply of our products; our dependence upon sales personnel, customers, suppliers and manufacturers; our dependence on our senior management; fluctuations in quarterly earnings; risks from expansion of customer purchasing power and multi-tiered costing structures; possible increases in the cost of shipping our products or other service issues with our third-party shippers; general global macro-economic conditions; disruptions in financial markets; possible volatility of the market price of our common stock; changes in the health care industry; implementation of health care laws; werfailure to comply with regulatory requirements and data privacy laws; risks associated with our global operations; transitional challenges associated with acquisitions and joint ventures, including the failure to achieve anticipated synergies; financial risks associated with acquisitions and joint ventures; litigation risks; the dependence on our continued product development, technical support and successful marketing in the technology segment; risks from challenges associated with the emergence of potential increased competition by third party online commerce sites; risks from disruption to our information systems; certain provisions in our governing documents that may discourage third-party acquisitions of us; and changes in tax legislation. 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, any forward-looking statements contained herein should not be relied upon as a prediction of actual results.  We undertake no duty and have no obligation to update forward-looking statements.

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SOURCE Henry Schein, Inc.

Investors: Steven Paladino, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, steven.paladino@henryschein.com, (631) 843-5500; Carolynne Borders, Vice President, Investor Relations, carolynne.borders@henryschein.com, (631) 390-8105; Media: Susan Vassallo, Vice President, Corporate Communications, susan.vassallo@henryschein.com, (631) 843-5562