Sell Your Dental Practice With a UK Wide Specialist Dental Practice Sales Agency
Welcome to
PFM Dental
Looking to Sell Your Dental Practice?
We’re a specialist dental practice sales agency, so whether you are looking to sell your dental practice on the open market, selling to your associate or intrigued with Corporate interest, we’ve helped thousands of dentists like you. You cannot be in better hands with our expert valuers, a single point of contact throughout the sale and in-house legal team, allowing us to advise you from start to finish.
We have a dedicated team at PFM who are in regular contact with new and existing buyers. All of the major Body Corporates are signed up to the priority buyer scheme, as well as a number of emerging Corporates and thousands of private buyers. Priority buyers pay the agency fees, so you get the same buyers, same service and advice, but without the cost.
Expert Valuations
Accurate valuations for associate and principal led models with advice on enhancing the practice value. More >
1000s of buyers
Get access to 1000s of pre-vetted purchasers, being individuals, small groups and all of the major corporates.
Offer Negotiation
We will ensure your practice attracts the best possible price by negotiating the sale on your behalf.
Supportive Throughout
We liaise with solicitors, buyers, and CQC to ensure everything is in place to minimise stress and give a smooth sale. More >
In-House Legal
We have specialist dental solicitors with expertise in commercial law, property law, and CQC processes. More >
Fee-Free Sale
A high proportion of our practices sell to priority buyers meaning the purchaser covers the agency fee.
How Selling Your Dental Practice Works
Most dental practice sales take between 6 and 12 months from initial valuation to completion. Here’s what the process looks like.
We will provide you with an accurate valuation of your practice and also ways to enhance the value. This is an important first step to fully understanding the detail of your practice.
We will put together a sales brochure including the background of the practice, financial details, CQC registration, energy performance certificate and accounts. We make sure that everything is in place before marketing.
We have thousands of buyers registered looking for practices. We will make contact with the buyers looking for practices in your area. Where suitable for Body Corporates we will also market to these. In the first instance we will market to ‘priority buyers’ who would cover the agency fees on your behalf. All Corporates are signed up to our priority buyers scheme.
We will handle all of the negotiations for you and advise accordingly. This is often not just price, but the terms of the deal such as any required tie in and timescales. We will also request proof of finance.
We will prepare detailed ‘heads of terms’ for the solicitors. Whilst they are undertaking the due diligence and the legal contracts we will liaise with them during the process to keep the sale moving and help resolve any issues that may arise.
Funds transfer, ownership changes. We remain on hand for handover queries in the days that follow.
For a detailed breakdown of each stage — including how valuations are calculated and what to expect from buyers — read our complete dental practice selling guide.
Understanding Dental Practice Valuations
When you’re looking to sell your dental practice, getting an accurate valuation is the essential first step. A realistic valuation ensures you attract serious buyers and achieve the best possible price. Our expert valuers have helped thousands of dentists understand exactly what their practice is worth.
How We Value Your Dental Practice
Dental practices are valued based on a multiple of EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation). Put simply, this represents the true profit of your practice before personal tax decisions and financing costs are considered.
We calculate two different financial models for every valuation (irrespective of how you currently run your practice):
Associate Led Model — this model assumes that all clinical work is undertaken by associates, and therefore for all income there is a responding associate cost. Due to the nature of this model this can attract Corporates but also dentists that wish to work in the practice.
Principal Led Model — under this model we assume that there would be a full-time dentist working clinically in the practice, thus the associate costs would be lower than it would for an associate led model, and the principal led EBITDA would be higher.
Once both EBITDAs are calculated, a multiple is then applied to each and will determine whether an associate led or principal led model gives us a better value. Understanding this allows us to determine the different types of buyers that your practice would attract and what will gain you the best price.
Adjustments That Maximise Your Valuation
To ensure you achieve the best price when you sell your dental practice, we go through your accounts line by line and make all relevant adjustments. These include the likes of; spouse salary adjustments, indemnity insurance costs, personal subscriptions and tax reducers and one-off expenses.
How to Improve Your Practice Value Before Selling
Following your valuation, we’ll identify opportunities to enhance your practice’s value and discuss these with you. Because valuations are based on a multiple of EBITDA, even small improvements to profitability can have a significant impact on your final sale price.
We’ll give you a clear picture of what increase in value each change could create, helping you decide whether to make improvements before going to market or sell as you are.
FAQs
How much does is cost to sell my practice?
A high proportion of our practices sell to priority buyers meaning the purchaser covers the agency fee.
Due to the demand for dental practices, PFM have a ‘priority buyer scheme’ in which people who are signed up will receive the details of practices coming to the market 1 week in advance of them being openly marketed. For this they agree to cover the agency fees on behalf of our clients (meaning a fee free sale). All fees are paid by the buyer to your solicitor along with the sale proceeds, as we only act for you ensuring there is no conflict.
All of the major Body Corporates are signed up to the priority buyer scheme, as well as a number of emerging Corporates and hundreds of private buyers.
You get the same buyers, same service and advice, but without covering the agency fees.
How do you value a dental practice?
We value practices based on a multiple of EBITDA, calculating both principal led and associate led models. See our valuations section above for full details, or visit our dedicated Practice Valuations page to learn more.
Do you help with the sale process?
Our work does not finish when an offer has been accepted, in fact it has only started. Our agency will provide instructions to the solicitors and provide regular monitoring of the practice with feedback to the vendor and purchaser throughout.
This will involve us making sure that the buyers finance is in place and moving in the right direction, and the CQC application is put in progress.
There are a large number of elements involved in the sale, and we try to ensure that each parts are done in a timely manner to ensure no delays.
Do you recommend any solicitors?
To ensure that we can provide the best service, we have an in-house legal firm who are dedicated to dental practice sales and purchases. With specialist commercial solicitors, property solicitors, and assistance with CQC you will be in good hands.
If you have your own solicitor, then not to worry. We are happy to liaise with all solicitors to ensure that matters are dealt with.
Should I sell to a body corporate?
If you are thinking of putting your dental practice up for sale and selling direct to a Corporate then there are a few things to consider before you take the plunge. Beware – they will want you to deal with them direct and what initially might appear as a highly attractive offer may not be all it seems.
Read our guide – Should I sell to a body corporate?
See what other dentists are saying
Case Studies
Selling a dental practice to a Body Corporate
The service has been fantastic and you truly provided a hand-holding service throughout. A must for anyone selling to a corporate
Selling a dental practice on the open market
Having spent years building the practice, it was important to us we found someone to take good care of our team and patients. PFM Dental took the time to understand who we were looking for and helped us market accordingly.
Simon Flaherty explains how he sold his practice with PFM, getting the deal and final years of the career he was looking for.
