Our strategy to become a leader in all price segments

The economic recession of 2008–2010, the surge in low price competitors and the opportunities in emerging markets made it clear that we could not continue in the long term as an exclusively premium company. In 2012, we took our first step into the upper value segment by investing in Neodent in Brazil. Overcoming the concern of cannibalization, we extended Neodent to new markets and fuelled growth in our Swiss premium brand through innovation and a new pricing strategy. With the two businesses thriving, we intensified our efforts to penetrate the upper value segment by joining forces with Medentika in Germany and Anthogyr in France.

The logical progression was to create opportunities in the lower value segment – especially in emerging markets. We therefore invested in T-Plus in Taiwan, equinox in India and Zinedent in Turkey. In 2019, we had a unique opportunity to invest in Warantec, an established implant brand in Korea, who granted us distribution rights for their products outside Korea. Furthermore, we took over T-Plus and Zinedent.

Beyond this, we developed nuvo, a new brand of attractively priced implants made in Brazil. These are ready for launch pending regulatory approvals. These initiatives broaden our path into the lower value segment and enable us to offer high quality solutions for patients who have not been able to afford implant treatment.