Business acquisition finance · Dental practices
Business acquisition finance for dental practices
Dental practice finance is equipment-led lending for chairs, imaging and surgery fit-outs, alongside acquisition and premises funding, priced on the strength of recurring patient billings and practitioner registration.
How a business acquisition finance works for dental practices
Dental practices change hands regularly and the price is mostly goodwill: the patient list, the hygiene recall book and the trading history. Lenders on our panel will lend against that goodwill for a registered dentist, which is unusual in commercial lending and reflects how sticky dental patients are. Expect scrutiny of the recall rate, the split between principal-generated and associate-generated billings, and the vendor transition period. Vendor finance over one to three years commonly sits alongside the main facility.
The cash-flow pattern we plan around
Consistent weekly billings from routine and restorative work, with occasional very large capital outlays each time a surgery is added or imaging is upgraded.
What dental practices typically fund
- Dental chairs and delivery units
- OPG, CBCT and intraoral imaging
- Surgery fit-out and infection-control compliance
- Buying a practice or a partnership share
- CAD/CAM and milling equipment
Business acquisition finance for dental practices: the numbers
| Typical amounts | $100,000 – $10,000,000 |
|---|---|
| Term | 24–120 months |
| Indicative rates | 7.5% – 16% p.a. |
| Repayments | Monthly |
| Speed | 3–8 weeks |
| Documents dental practices usually need | ABN and AHPRA dental registration · Practice financials or personal tax returns · Equipment or fit-out quote from the supplier |
Rates shown are indicative ranges observed across our lender panel for the period stated. They are not an offer or quote. Your rate depends on your business, the lender, the amount, the term and the security offered. The lender makes the final credit decision.
Key terms
Dental equipment finance
Dental equipment finance is secured lending for dental chairs, imaging systems, milling units and sterilisation equipment, usually written over five to seven years and available to registered dentists with limited financial documentation.
Surgery fit-out funding
Surgery fit-out funding is finance covering the non-removable works needed to commission a dental surgery — services, cabinetry, plumbing and compliance zones — repaid across the term of the practice lease.
What is business acquisition finance?
Business acquisition finance is a loan used to fund the purchase of an existing business or a shareholding in one. Lenders assess the target business’s adjusted earnings, the assets included in the sale, the buyer’s deposit and any security offered.
How much deposit do you need to buy a business?
Most lenders expect the buyer to contribute 30–50% of the purchase price in cash or equity. Where the buyer offers property security, the required cash contribution can fall substantially.
What is vendor finance in a business sale?
Vendor finance is where the seller leaves part of the purchase price outstanding, repaid by the buyer over an agreed period. It bridges the gap between the price and what a lender will fund, and signals the vendor’s confidence in the business.
What is normalised EBITDA?
Normalised EBITDA is a business’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, adjusted to remove owner-specific items such as above-market director wages, personal expenses and one-off costs. Lenders use it to estimate what the business will actually earn under new ownership.