Tag: Hearing Help Express

Staff Standpoint | March 2022 Hearing Review Updated March 15, 2022 By Karl Strom, Editor Karl Strom As I was preparing my annual report on US hearing aid sales (see p 20), it was hard not to become increasingly optimistic about 2022; one tip-off was the number of mergers-and-acquisitions (M&As). Not only did 2021 total unit sales increase by 37% as we move out of the worst of the pandemic, but sales also increased by 12% over 2019. Another telltale sign of market recovery is the number of major merger and acquisition (M&A) announcements last year, and I believe this will continue into 2022. Below are some of the most significant M&As in the industry from 1994 to present. I’ve also included a snapshot from my patented Merge-o-Meter (above), an advanced analytic tool (cough!) that summarizes the disparately sampled M&A data below into one fun but mostly-useless graphic. In the figure, the blue bars represent years when there were 4 or fewer significant M&As, orange bars 5-7, and red bars 8 or more. I admit that the Mergo-o-Meter is not infallible, but it might allow you to quickly identify general trends and more intense periods of M&A activity. For a good discussion of what M&As might mean for hearing care professionals, see Dr Robert Traynor's article "Survival Strategies in a Competitive Hearing Care Market" in the June 2018 Hearing Review. 1994 Siemens purchases Rexton DanplexPhonak becomes a public company. 1995 Oticon acquires Maico, Bernafon, Phox, and Ascom StarCabot Safety purchases Eastern Safety.William Demant Holding (WDH) becomes public company. 1996 ReSound purchases 3M Hearing Health.Cabot Safety purchases Peltor. 1997 Phonak purchases E Stephensen AS (Norway).Philips purchases Antwerp Bionic Systems (LAURA).WDH purchases Phonic Ear. 1998 A&M Ltd (UK) purchases Electone.Telex and Philips announce a strategic partnership. 1999 Starkey purchases Qualitone.Amplifon purchases Viennatone from ReSound.GN purchases ReSound to become GN ReSound.Beltone purchases Philips Electronics’ hearing aid division.Audio ‘D’ purchases Finetone.Maico purchases American Electromedics.Siemens Hearing Instruments purchases A&M and Electone.Amplifon purchases Dahlberg/Miracle Ear.Doughty Hanson purchases Knowles Electronics.Unitron and Lori Medical merge to form Lori/Unitron.GN ReSound purchases Danplex A/S.Maico Diagnostics purchases Beltone Audiometer Div. 2000 WDH purchases Dahlberg Canada & Hidden Hearing.Lori/Unitron purchases Argosy Electronics.Starkey Laboratories purchases Micro-Tech.Sonic files for IPO.GN purchases Beltone.Phonak purchases the Lori/Unitron/Argosy Group.WDH purchases AVADA. 2001 GN purchases ICS Medical.Amplifon announces IPO on Italian stock exchange.Phonak purchases Hansaton.Madsen, Danplex, Hortmann, and ICS become GN Otometrics.Hearx and Helix announce merger with funding from Siemens.Quest Technologies integrates Metrosonics Inc.WDH becomes minority owner of AHAA.GN purchases 25% of Ultravox Holdings in UK (Ultratone/Sietech).GN purchases Dana Japan.Interton purchases Authorized Hearing Systems (AHS). 2002 WDH purchases Tremetrics.Phonak purchases Telex CROS technology.Plantronics purchases Ameriphone.Gennum & DSP Factory form strategic merger.Amplifon purchases Sonus (1300 offices).Sonic acquires Sentech and Orsonique.Symphonix folds; Med-El purchases Soundbridge in 2003. 2003 Amplifon purchases National Hearing Centers (54 offices). 2004 Amplifon purchases Horen Nederland (The Netherlands).Natus purchases Fischer-Zoth (OAE instruments). 2005 Sonic purchases Tympany and forms Hearing Health Network.Cochlear Corp purchases Entific (BAHA).Dover Corp purchases Knowles Electronics.Sonova purchases CAS.Amplifon/Sonus purchases Sounds of Life and 22 HearUSA offices.Amplifon purchases Axt-Wendton GmbH.GN purchases Interton. 2006 Sonova announces purchase of GN ReSound, but pulls out of deal in 2007 after being blocked by German anti-trust court (a ruling that was reversed in 2010).Sonova purchases Island Hearing and Metro Hearing.Sonova purchases Omerods (25%).Widex purchases marjority interest in Otovation.Amplifon purchases Ultravox from GN.Natus purchases Bio-logic Systems. 2007 Sonic sells Tympany to Tympany Holdings LLC.IntriCon purchases Tibbetts.Cardinal Health purchases VIASYS (owner of GSI and Nicolet Biomedical).ON Semiconductor purchases AMI Semiconductor.Gennum purchased by Sound Design.3M purchases Aearo 2008 Sonion purchased by Technitrol.Natus purchases SonaMed.Sonova purchases TRE SA (Luxembourg). 2009 Altar Acquires Pulse (Sonion) from Technitrol.Amplifon purchases Dialogue.Sonova purchases Advanced Bionics (AB).Sonova purchases Newport Audiology.WDH purchases GSI. 2010 Siemens AG starts to shop its hearing aid division but does not receive $2.7 billion asking price.Sonova purchases InSound Medical (Lyric).AudioNova purchases Geers.WDH wins bidding process for Otix Global (Sonic and HearingLife), probably the 7th largest global hearing aid manufacturer at time.WDH purchases ListenUp!Amplifon purchases Auditon (Luxembourg) and NHC Group.Widex purchases Widex Hearing Aid Co (US distributor). 2011 HearUSA locks horns over payments to, and is eventually purchased by, Siemens.IntriCon and UnitedHealth’s hi HealthInnovations form distribution agreement.WDH purchases MedRx.WDH purchases Northeastern Technologies Group, Mid-lantic Technologies Group, and Gordon N. Stowe and Associates. Westone purchased by CID Capital. 2013: No major M&As in 2013. 2014 Sonova purchases Comfort Audio.Sophono and Nurotron (China) form SophonoTron.Siemens Audiology purchased by EQT and Strüngmann family, renamed Sivantos. 2015 IntriCon purchases PC Werth.GN Otometrics purchases Amplifon’s Biomedica.WDH purchases Audika.Sonova group integrates Hansaton.Medtronic purchases Sophono.Sivantos purchases audibene.IntriCon and ADA partner to form EarVentureAuditData purchases Otovation. 2016 Sonova purchases AudioNova (Europe’s 2nd largest HA retailer).GN purchases Audigy Group.Natus purchases GN Otometrics. 2017 IntriCon purchases Hearing Help Express.Cochlear Ltd purchases Sycle.Google Ventures invests in Decibel Therapeutics.ESCO purchases Midwest Hearing Industries.Auditdata purchases Simply Hearing Software. 2018 Energizer purchases Rayovac (Spectrum Brands Batteries).Marcon and AuDNet merge to form AUDNET.Sivantos purchases TruHearing.Lucid Technologies purchases Etymotic Research.Amplifon purchases GAES.Sivantos and Widex announce plans to merge to form WS Audiology. 2019 Westone purchases Custom Protect Ear.Alpaca Audiology merges with Belsono.Listen Technologies Acquires AudioConexus.Bose Ventures invests in hearX (incl Lexie).Demant launches EPOS.Tremetrics purchases Monitor Instruments.Demant purchases Audioscan. 2020 AuDStandard acquires Paradigm Growth 360, forms HearWorks.Intricon purchases Emerald Medical Services (EMS).Listen Technologies purchases ExXothermic Inc.Lucid Audio purchases Westone Audio.Eargo announces IPO listing on NASDAQ. 2021 Amplifon purchases Bay Audio (Australia). Sonova purchases Sennheiser Consumer Division.Sonova AC AU purchases Neurosensory.WSA purchases AuralCare/My Hearing CentersConsult YHN and EarQ merge to create CQ Partners.GN Hearing purchases Lively.WSA buys into Chinese online retailer Longkang.WSA purchases KoalysGN purchases SteelSeries.HearingLife purchases APG Group. 2022 (through January). Sonova purchases Alpaca.WSA purchases Audibel Aparelhos Auditivos (Brazil).Intricon purchased by Altaris. Citation for this article: Strom K. Hearing care M&As heat up again. Hearing Review. 2022;29(3):6.

Tag: Hearing Help Express

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