The Strategist

US orthodontic braces maker Smile Direct Club expects to raise $ 1.3 bln during IPO



09/04/2019 - 06:50



SmileDirectClub, a US orthodontic bracket service that works with clients without the direct involvement of doctors, expects to raise up to $ 1.287 billion through an initial public offering on the Nasdaq, the service said.



US orthodontic braces maker Smile Direct Club expects to raise $ 1.3 bln during IPO
The company filed an IPO in mid-August. Now the firm has named the price range of the offering: it wants to place 58.5 million Class A shares under the SDC ticker at prices ranging from $ 19 to $ 22 per share. The placement underwriters will be JPMorgan and Citigroup.

SmileDirectClub makes removable braces that are cheaper than other kind of braces and the services of ordinary dentists. The company has opened hundreds of service centers where its employees take three-dimensional pictures of the client's jaws. Then the images are sent to dentists, who check the dental correction plan proposed by the company. 

Dentists criticize SmileDirectClub for taking a bold approach and refusing to let doctors directly examine the teeth.

In 2018, SmileDirectClub increased revenue by 190% to $ 423 million, but its net loss more than doubled and amounted to $ 74.8 million.

source: finance.yahoo.com