REGINA MARIA Health Network signs the largest transaction of the year in the medical services market by acquiring the majority stake in Clinicile Dentare Dr. Leahu, the leader in the dental market with a presence in 13 cities across the country, featuring 169 offices in 19 clinics. Following the transaction, Dr. Ionuț Leahu retains a 49% stake, while private equity fund Morphosis Capital exits the dental service provider’s shareholder structure.
With investments exceeding EUR 200 million in recent years, REGINA MARIA, the leader in medical quality in Romania and the primary investor in medical infrastructure over the past 30 years enters the dental services niche, embarking on a new phase of business growth.
“We have been closely monitoring the dynamics of the dental market for many years, and now is the opportune moment to take this first step, which also marks our entry into consolidating this field in Romania. Dentistry is a market with great development potential. Together with the ambitious and high-performing team built by Dr. Ionuț Leahu, we will bring even more value-added services to Romanian patients, within a continuum of quality healthcare. In medicine, the future is built with vision and long-term strategy. We prefer to speak less and do more, and our entry into the dental niche stems from our constant concern for medical education and prevention,” declares Fady Chreih, CEO of REGINA MARIA.
The network of dental clinics founded and led by Dr. Ionuț Leahu for over a decade recorded revenues of over EUR 26 million (RON 132 million) in 2022, representing a 31% increase compared to the previous year. Clinicile Dentare Dr. Leahu brings together a team of 500 employees, including 200 doctors and specialists in general anesthesia. Each clinic integrates at least one digital dental radiology center. The network also has its own training center for specialist doctors, resident doctors, and medical assistants. Over 5,000 patients visit the dental clinics each month.
“12 years ago, I embarked on a journey to completely change the way dentistry is practiced in Romania. I decided then that patients deserve to receive personalized treatment options based on accurate and comprehensive diagnoses. I decided that I, as a doctor, would be available to patients whenever they choose to seek treatment. These decisions challenged me to build the most complex institution in Romanian dentistry. After treating over 100,000 people, I realized that our duty is to be there for each patient, from the first tooth throughout their entire life. And for this to happen, the institution I built must surpass the individual, and naturally, I chose to join the REGINA MARIA Health Network, not only for the highest standard of medical quality in Romania but especially for their continuous focus on patient experience. I am confident that this decision will bring a unique element to the benefit of those who choose us, a 360-degree integration of medicine, both for the patient and the dental practitioner. Together, we will utilize everything we have built so far as a platform, and we are ready to bring more entrepreneurial dental practitioners alongside us. We will continue our plan to develop oral health in Romania. Because the combined efforts in medical education, constant investments in medical infrastructure and digitization, and the creation of processes that enhance patient experience redefine medical leadership in Romania,” declares Dr. Ionut Leahu, founder, and CEO of Clinicile Dentare Dr. Leahu.
Present in the most important cities in the country, including Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Brasov, Timisoara, Iasi, Sibiu, Constanta, Oradea, Craiova, Galati, Turda, Ploiesti, and Pitesti, Clinicile Dentare Dr. Leahu also holds a portfolio of 17,000 dental subscriptions.
Following the transaction, Clinicile Dentare Dr. Leahu will operate as an independent division within the REGINA MARIA Health Network, with Dr. Ionuț Leahu remaining as CEO and founder, retaining management responsibilities. Morphosis Capital will no longer be part of the dental company’s ownership structure.
“For a private equity fund, partnering with an entrepreneurial company and supporting it to become a market leader represents the fulfillment of an ideal. The full credit always goes to the founder, and no one embodies the values of resilience and perseverance better than Ionuț Leahu. We are proud to have been part of this evolution and are extremely happy to see Clinicile Dentare Dr. Leahu continuing their successful journey alongside a strong partner with aligned values, such as the REGINA MARIA Health Network,” stated Andrei Gemeneanu, Managing Partner at Morphosis Capital.
The parties were assisted in this transaction by RTPR and EY Romania for the REGINA MARIA Health Network, PwC Romania and D&B David and Baias for Clinicile Dentare Dr. Leahu, and Mihaela Mîndru Law Office for Morphosis Capital.”
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About Rețeaua de Sănătate REGINA MARIA
REGINA MARIA Health Network is the leader in quality medical services in Romania, being the only operator with three hospitals holding international accreditations. With 16 accreditations – a unique performance in Central and Eastern Europe – REGINA MARIA consistently demonstrates its commitment to medical excellence and safe patient care.
At the same time, REGINA MARIA has also innovated in the corporate healthcare segment, launching the concept of corporate subscriptions for the first time in Romania more than 25 years ago. The company has also developed specialized medical packages for SMEs and individuals, currently managing a portfolio of 800,000 subscriptions. In addition, over the last 10 years, REGINA MARIA has invested more than 200 million euros in developing the medical system in Romania through the modernization or opening of new locations, the acquisition of high-performance equipment, and the training of medical teams.
REGINA MARIA is the only healthcare company in Romania that has fully taken over and successfully integrated more than 35 other market players, being present in more than half of the country’s counties and with national coverage through more than 330 partner clinics. The company has over 8,500 employees and collaborators and provides comprehensive hospital and surgical, maternity, polyclinic, imaging, laboratory, and stem cell storage services to over 6 million patients.
In 2023, REGINA MARIA launched a new medical project – EXAVET, the first Veterinary Analysis and Imaging laboratory within the network marking the entry into a new market for the leader in quality medical services in Romania.
About Clinicile Dentare Dr. Leahu
Dr. Ionut Leahu, the founder of the largest network of dental clinics in Romania, a dentist with competence in oral implantology and master’s in oral implantology and periodontology, graduated from the Faculty of Dental Medicine at UMF Carol Davila Bucharest and completed a Master’s Course of Implant Dentistry in Nuremberg, Germany.
He is the Romanian entrepreneur who managed to build over a decade a dental network with a presence in 13 cities in Romania – Bucharest, Pitești, Timișoara, Turda, Constanța, Oradea, Iași, Sibiu, Ploiești, Galați, Cluj-Napoca, Craiova, and Brașov.
Dr. Leahu Dental Clinics has 169 dental offices, a fully digitized dental laboratory, and a team of over 500 employees, including 200 doctors and specialists in general anesthesia. Each clinic incorporates at least one digital dental radiology center. The network also has its own training center for specialist doctors, resident doctors, and nurses – the Dr. Leahu Training Centre.
