DSO Spotlight
o15 Capital Partners, through its o15 Emerging America Credit Opportunities fund and its affiliates, announced a new $15 million mezzanine debt investment in Lone Peak Dental Group, a pediatric specialty dental services organization (DSO) primarily serving Medicaid-eligible children and underserved communities across the United States.
“Lone Peak continues to demonstrate strong operational execution while expanding access to high-quality pediatric dental care for underserved families across the country,” said Kenneth Saffold, Co-CEO and Managing Partner at o15. “This mezzanine investment serves as incremental capital to the Company to support the next phase of expansion, including strategic acquisitions and continued investment in specialty dental offerings.”
Founded in 2003 by two pediatric dentists with just three Denver locations, Lone Peak Dental Group has grown to over 75 offices across 14 states: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Nebraska, Nevada, Maryland, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. The DSO also just announced the acquisition of AZ Family & Kid’s Dental, a pediatric dental practice located in Phoenix, Arizona. This acquisition marks an exciting expansion for Lone Peak Dental Group with five practices now in the Phoenix and Mesa region.
The specialty DSO provides a comprehensive range of pediatric dental, orthodontic, and specialty dental services through a network of 73 affiliated offices across 14 states and provides dental care to over 680,000 children annually. The management team is located in Denver, Colorado at the Smile Center.
When acquiring practices, Lone Peak will maintain the current name of a practice when appropriate. The company will never rebrand a practice under a national name, although a name change may be necessary if the practice is named after an individual doctor. In those cases, Lone Peak uses geography or local namesakes to select a name that reflects the community.
Lone Peak does brand its Kidsperience service model through collateral such as posters, websites, and team training manuals. This effort is designed to provide formal customer service training for team members, rather than to brand the local practice itself.
The DSO looks for like-minded Partner-Doctors who specialize in pediatric dentistry within its current geography, operate a 7- to 10-chair facility, and serve the local community by welcoming state-sponsored insurance. Lone Peak has a strong preference for doctors who are interested in partnering with a group for five years, with a focus on shared success.
“We are excited to deepen our partnership with management and the sponsor as the business scales and continues combining strong healthcare outcomes with meaningful community impact,” said Javier Davila, Principal at o15. “Lone Peak’s ability to expand access to pediatric specialty dental care while maintaining strong provider retention and operational consistency makes the platform highly differentiated within the DSO market landscape.”
o15’s investment supports Lone Peak’s continued operational growth initiatives and provides additional capital flexibility to execute on its actionable acquisition pipeline and strategic expansion efforts. The transaction follows o15’s original investment in the DSO in October 2024 and reflects continued confidence in Lone Peak’s management team, operating performance, and long-term market opportunity.
Key executives:
- Ray Caruso, CEO
- Christina Carlson, CFO
- Susanne Reams, CPO
- Mandy Gast, CDO
- Eduardo Laventman, COO
