COPENHAGEN, FRANKFURT
Hearing aid makers Widex and Sivantos agreed to merge on Wednesday to form the world’s third-largest supplier behind market leaders Sonova and William Demant.
Germany’s Sivantos, formerly known as Siemens Audiology, and Denmark’s Widex will create a company with an valuation of more than 7 billion euros ($8.28 billion), including roughly 3 billion euros in debt. Makers of hearing aids, whose customers are typically in their seventies or eighties, are benefiting from rising demand in ageing societies, but some are facing challenges adapting to the digital age.
Swedish private equity firm EQT will own a majority of the merged group in which the TA, Pholm and Westermann families, who currently own Widex, will retain large stakes. EQT bought Sivantos from Siemens in 2015 for more than 2 billion euros.
