Deal Details

Spear Is Acquired by Avista

Technology & Services

Spear, a portfolio company of Linden, acquisition by Avista

Summary

Spear Education, LLC (“Spear” or “the Company”), a portfolio company of Linden Capital Partners (“Linden”), has agreed to be acquired by Avista Capital Partners (“Avista”). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Baird served as exclusive financial advisor to Spear on this transaction.

About

Spear is the industry’s leading dental education provider. Spear offers unmatched breadth of content including 5,000+ on-demand videos, 300+ hands on workshops annually, and 100+ study club modules. Spear’s solutions enable dentists to learn higher acuity skills and generate new revenue streams, providing a high ROI to dental practices and practitioners across the spectrum of experience. The Company is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Linden Capital Partners is a private equity firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry. Founded in 2004, Linden is one of the country's largest dedicated healthcare private equity firms. Linden's strategy is based upon three elements: (i) healthcare specialization, (ii) integrated private equity and operating expertise, and (iii) its differentiated human capital program. Linden invests in middle market platforms in the medical products, specialty distribution, pharmaceutical, and services segments of healthcare. Since its founding, Linden has invested in over 40 healthcare companies encompassing over 200 total transactions. Linden has raised over $6 billion in limited partner commitments since inception. Linden is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Founded in 2005, Avista Capital Partners is a leading private equity firm with over $8 billion invested in more than 40 growth-oriented healthcare businesses globally. Avista partners with businesses that feature strong management teams, stable cash flows and robust growth prospects – investing in the medical devices, pharmaceuticals, outsourced pharmaceutical services, healthcare technology, healthcare distribution and diagnostics, and consumer healthcare sectors. Avista’s Strategic Executives and Advisors are an integral part of the team, providing strategic insight, operational oversight and senior counsel, which helps drive growth and performance, while fostering sustainable businesses and creating long-term value for all stakeholders. Avista is headquartered in New York, New York.

Technology & Services

Spear, a portfolio company of Linden, acquisition by Avista