Henry Schein sells off stake in dental distributor

Henry Schein has refined its operational focus with the divestiture of its interest in a dental wholesale distributor based in the Middle East.

This investment was an unprofitable, non-controlling interest in a company that primarily served as an importer that providing products to other distributors, with the selloff to generate a one-time charge of between $11 and $13 million (7.27 to 8.6 million pounds).

According to Henry Schein, this decision was taken in accordance with the company's strategic plan of enhancing its position as a leading global distributor of products and related value-added services in the market segments it serves.

Stanley Bergman, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Henry Schein, said: "We have elected to divest our interest in this non-core holding to further align our investments targeting our primary customer base, the office-based practitioner."

During 2012, the firm achieved a net sales total of $8.9 billion, making it one of the 300 largest companies in the US.