HireQuest Inc. (NASDAQ: HQI), a staffing franchisor, has agreed to acquire the Dental Power Staffing division of Dental Power, a 46-year-old dental staffing company headquartered in Carrboro, North Carolina.

Dental Power’s DPS division provides temporary, long-term contract, and direct-hire staffing services to private-sector dental practices across the US. The division generated $3.5 million in revenue for the last 12 months ended Sept. 30.

“The acquisition of Dental Power squarely fits within the parameters of our growth strategy,” said HireQuest President and CEO Rick Hermanns. “This acquisition provides us with a new platform from which to grow while maintaining our margin targets and not taking certain jurisdictional risks. Additionally, we believe that adding Dental Power Staffing will create further recruiting efficiencies and synergies within HireQuest that will benefit our entire system.”

Dental Power Staffing will operate as a corporate-owned subsidiary of HireQuest with its existing team, and Dental Power President Jamie Understein will continue as a consultant to HireQuest. HireQuest is developing a franchise offering tailored to the dental market, which it expects to introduce in the first half of 2022, using DPS as the platform to launch this offering.

HireQuest stated it will fund this acquisition with existing cash on hand and a modest draw on its existing line of credit. Subject to completing a number of closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The deal follows the acquisitions of franchises from Snelling Staffing and Link Staffing earlier this year. HireQuest also recently acquired Recruit Media Inc., an HR tech startup that enables job seekers to create a profile and record a video about themselves on their phones for potential employers.