HBF, the fifth-largest private health insurer in Australia, has invested in Pacific Smiles Group Limited (Pacific Smiles), which owns and operates the Pacific Smiles Dental Centres and the nib Dental Care Centres.
In a release, HBF confirmed that it acquired around 10.0% interest from TDM Growth Partners for approximately $41.9 million.
The investment follows the agreement of HBF and Pacific Smiles to enter a 10-year strategic partnership in July 2020 to support the insurer’s expansion into dental services in Western Australia (WA).
Since then, five HBF dental centres have been established in WA, managed by Pacific Smiles. Meanwhile, HBF members outside of WA can access Member Plus dental benefits at Pacific Smiles’ network of 119 dental centres in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and the ACT.
“Dental represents approximately 60% of our ancillary payments, and we know our members want access to high-quality oral healthcare,” said HBF CEO John Van Der Wielen.
Van Der Wielen said the strategic investment would further strengthen the private health insurer’s relationship with its key partner, Pacific Smiles, and is in line with its strategy to build scale nationally and expand into health services to enhance the value and service it provides to HBF members.
“We partnered with Pacific Smiles because they have a track record in establishing and operating high-quality dental clinics that deliver excellent customer service and clinical outcomes – our members are seeing this at the five HBF Dental centres we’ve opened in WA this year and at Pacific Smiles’ extensive network of clinics elsewhere,” he explained.
Aside from expanding into dental services, HBF grew further by acquiring CUA’s health insurance arm this year – with most of CUA Health’s 79,000 members benefitting from lower premiums and better benefits under HBF. It also offered CUA Health employees roles in Brisbane.
One of its first plans for the acquired company includes paying around $3.7 million in surplus deferred claims provisions to over 41,100 CUA Health policyholders via direct debit or cheque this month – ranging from $22 to $150 per policy, depending on the cover held (e.g., a single or family with hospital and/or extras cover), with the most common payments being $75 (single with hospital and extras cover) and $150 (family with hospital and extras cover).
