Henry Schein 2006 Annual Report Download - page 16

At Henry Schein, we now serve one
world of customers–a world that has
become a single global market for
dental, medical and veterinary office-
based practitioners who have similar
needs regardless of geographic
boundaries. Like their North American
colleagues, healthcare practitioners in
countries around the world are
searching for solutions to help them
operate more efficient and profitable
practices as they provide a high quality
of patient care.
We meet our international customers’
needs by providing superior service
and the most comprehensive selection
of products. Our International Group
serves approximately 240,000 office-
based dental, medical and veterinary
practices and has operations in 17
countries outside of North America:
Austria, Australia, Belgium, the Czech
Republic, France, Germany, Iceland,
Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal,
Spain, Switzerland and the United
Kingdom. And through Schein Direct,
which provides door-to-door air
package delivery service, we have
the capability to serve practitioners
in more than 200 countries around
the world.
Our International Group currently
holds approximately 15% of the
estimated $8 billion combined dental,
medical and animal health market in
the European countries in which we
operate. With significant room for
future growth, we will share best
practices and operational efficiencies
across international borders and
markets as we continue to build an
infrastructure based on our successful
U.S. model.
We will continue to expand our
successful full-service dental model
throughout Europe, positioning our
field sales consultants and telesales
representatives as trusted advisors to
our customers. We also will continue
to explore expansion opportunities
abroad in countries where we currently
have a presence, as well as potential
expansion into new markets. In 2006,
we were pleased to expand our
presence in the European animal health
market with the acquisition of Provet
Holding AG, the leading animal health
distribution company in Switzerland.
And we will further refine the Henry
Schein global brand to ensure that all of
our customers and suppliers around the
world clearly understand the benefits of
partnership with our Company.
Growing Our Global Presence
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HENRY SCHEIN