Align Won't Renew Pact With Startup SmileDirectClub

(Bloomberg) -- Align Technology Inc. said it has not changed its plans to walk away from a supply agreement with orthodontics startup SmileDirectClub when their pact expires in 2019.

Align, which holds a 19 percent equity stake in SmileDirectClub, said in July that the relationship “has not worked out as expected” and that it anticipated not renewing the agreement.

Sarah Johnson, a spokeswoman for Align, said Thursday that the company’s plans to walk away have not changed. Align “has not been able to impact the decision-making process at SDC as we hoped,” Johnson said.

The company didn’t immediately comment on whether it planned to change the size of its investment in SmileDirectClub. SmileDirectClub didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Align shares dropped 20 percent on Thursday after the company forecast earnings per share for the fourth quarter that fell short of the lowest estimates of Wall Street analysts, though the stock is still up more than 4 percent for the year to date.

Earlier this month, SmileDirectClub said that it raised $380 million in a new funding round, valuing the company at $3.2 billion.

To contact the reporter on this story: Blake Dodge in New York at bdodge4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Drew Armstrong at darmstrong17@bloomberg.net, Timothy Annett

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