Saraburi: LDC Dental Plc plans nearly to double the number of its clinics to 40 by 2017.
The expansion will be fulfilled through acquisitions, managing director Wattana Chaiwat said yesterday.
The move is aimed at reducing operating costs through economies of scale.
Once the company reaches 40 clinics, it plans to start an offshoot to import dental equipment as an additional cost-cutting measure.
LDC sees plenty of acquisition opportunities in the almost 10,000 small dental clinics nationwide.
The company has been negotiating with several other firms, some of which have numerous branches in good locations.
"Nearly 10,000 dental clinics are providing services in Thailand, but most of them are small," Mr Wattana said.
LDC runs 21 dental clinics. This year the company plans to add about 10 branches, with the first three opening in the first quarter in Ubon Ratchathani, Nakhon Phanom and Mukdahan provinces.
Each branch will cost 10 million baht and take three to five years to break even, Mr Wattana said.
Other provinces receiving clinics this year are Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phitsanulok and Songkhla in addition to Greater Bangkok.
LDC is also studying an expansion into other Asean countries as a way of capturing rising demand from the Asean Economic Community, which is scheduled to take effect by the end of 2015.
Mr Wattana said the company would seek land for building a dental centre to develop integrated dental care services and train employees.
The greatest challenge in the dental care business is ingrained customer behaviour, as clients mostly prefer to stay with dentists they trust.
Companies such as LDC must have a strategy in place for retaining good dentists.
"Dentists like to open their own clinics, so we offer lucrative returns to dentists to make sure they get high pay but without the risk of having their own clinic, especially the freshly graduated dentists," Mr Wattana said.
The company hopes to set a benchmark for dental care services in Thailand by standardising all its clinics with new equipment and technology.
LDC shares closed yesterday on the MAI at 4.48 baht, down 22 satang, in trade worth 37.5 million baht.