Hearing Loss Products and Services
Advertise on Hearing Loss Web
Search This Site or the Web

Free Email Newsletter

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

Hearing Loss Web Banner
Discussion Forum
Hearing Loss Events
Last Update: July 20

 

Home

About Us

Search this Site

New to Hearing Loss?
In the News

Discussion Forum

HOH-LD-News

Advertise

Contact Us

Glossary

Events

 

Issues

Access

Oral Communications

Emergency Planning

Employment

Family

Hearing Aid Affordability

Identity

Law Enforcement

Psychological

Services

 

Medical

Audiology

Causes

Cures

Meniere's Disease

Tinnitus

Local Resources and Events
 
Employment Opportunities
 
Education Opportunities
 

Hearing Loss Products and Services

Advocates and Legal
Alerting Devices
Assistive Listening Devices
Business Services

Captioning

Financial Services
General Stores

Government

Health Products and Services
Hearing Aids
Hearing Aid Accessories
Hearing Aid Batteries
Hearing Aid Maintenance
Hearing Aid Repair
Hearing Dogs
Hearing Loss Organizations
Hints and Tips
Kids' Stuff
Medical Products and Services
Pagers

Publications

Relay Service
Sign Language Materials
Telecommunications Distribution Program

Telephones

Travel

TTYs (TDDs)

TTY Repairs

Two-Way Pagers

Technology

Alerting Devices

Assistive Listening Devices

Cochlear Implants

Hearing Aids

Speech Recognition

Telephones

Two Way Pagers

TTYs (TDDs)

Visual Communications

Links

Phonak acquisition makes it world number one

Editor: We've been experience the consolidation of virtually all industries recently, and the hearing aid industry is no exception. The pending purchase of ReSound by Phonak will make Phonak the largest hearing aid supplier in the world, with nearly one-third of the market.

This story was originally published by the folks at swissinfo/Swiss Radio International (SRI), and is reprinted with their kind permission.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Swiss hearing aid company Phonak is to buy the ReSound group from the Danish firm GN Store Nord for SFr3.3 billion ($2.63 billion). The deal will create a "global powerhouse" in hearing healthcare, Phonak said in a statement on Monday.

But the news was not initially welcomed at the stock exchange in Zurich, with Phonak shares falling by 5.6 per cent to SFr74.65 in early trading on fears about the expensive price tag.

The combined group will have revenues of more than SFr1.5 billion and core earnings of SFr312 million francs, based on 2005-2006 results for the year ending March 31, 2006, the Stäfa-based company announced.

Following the acquisition of ReSound, which is a global manufacturer of digital hearing instruments, Phonak will leapfrog Siemens and William Demant Holding to become leader of the SFr3.1 billion market.

Phonak said the deal would lead to cost savings of around SFr100 million francs over three years, mainly in areas such as procurement, manufacturing, and administration.

Growth

"I don't see any reason why ReSound shouldn't be able to achieve benchmark industry growth rates and profit margins over the next two to three years," explained Valentin Chapero, Phonak's chief executive officer.

The group, which is aiming to grow by around ten per cent annually, said that its position as global hearing healthcare leader would help it to raise public awareness of the importance of the sense of hearing.

The deal will be financed through a SFr1.5 billion loan and a capital increase of around SFr1.8 billion.

"The price paid is quite rich," said Thomas Bernhardsgruetter, an analyst at CA Cheuvreux in Zurich told Bloomberg. "You gain scale - that is the key thing here - in production and sourcing."

In June Phonak announced strong results for 2005-2006, with an 80 per cent rise in full-year net profits and said it expected sales to outperform the market over the next year.

The company declared that it had "the strongest product portfolio of the hearing instrument industry" and had a full product pipeline.