Erlangen, Germany - March 26, 2015.
- Sivantos, global leading hearing aid company, enters into a strategic partnership and investment agreement with the largest internet portal for hearing care case management in Europe
- Sivantos takes over all shares in audibene
- audibene founders reinvest into Sivantos and continue to run the business
- Strategic move towards new business models and expanding consumer markets internationally
Today, the Sivantos Group and audibene GmbH announced a strategic partnership and investment agreement. The transaction is not subject to the approval of regulatory authorities, and the financial details will remain confidential.
audibene is the largest internet portal for independent hearing care case management and hearing aid purchasing in Europe. With about 15,000 visitors on their website per day, hearing care providers benefit from audibene’s multi-vendor platform, as it attracts new hearing aid customers into the world of hearing aids and drives incremental business for hearing healthcare providers.
audibene was founded in Berlin in 2012 by Paul Crusius and Marco Vietor and specializes in delivering great customer experience and hearing care services to people with hearing loss. audibene’s core focus is on first-time customers, who are on average ten years younger than the typical customer in the market. Consumers receive excellent consultation support by experienced hearing care professionals via telephone and the audibene website, and from local, highly qualified partner hearing healthcare providers, who deliver in-office fitting and ongoing professional care.
audibene has approximately 180 employees in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland, and has more than 800 partner providers. Within Sivantos, audibene remains an independent business managed from its Berlin headquarters by its founders who will be shareholders in Sivantos. The company will provide support to audibene to expand its model internationally. The current business in Germany, Netherlands and Switzerland will not be affected.
“Our motivation is to uncover and develop innovative approaches to partner with our customers to provide hearing healthcare earlier in the patient journey. The combination of Sivantos and audibene delivers a unique, value-added proposition to our business partners,” says Roger Radke, CEO of the Sivantos Group. “With its clear focus on digital media, phone support and qualified partner network, audibene succeeded within short time to appeal to consumers that have until now refused the traditional supply chain. This dynamic matches the future-oriented realignment of Sivantos.”
Paul Crusius and Marco Vietor will be part of the Sivantos management and continue to lead the audibene business: “Sivantos as an entrepreneurial investor is the ideal partner for us. We want to develop audibene into a truly international company. Our business will benefit greatly from its worldwide distribution network and innovation leadership.”
About Sivantos Group
The businesses of Siemens’ former hearing aid unit have been combined into the Sivantos Group since the beginning of 2015. The origins of Sivantos go right back to 1878, when Werner von Siemens invented a telephone receiver which made it considerably easier for the hard of hearing to follow conversations. Today, Sivantos Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of hearing instruments. With its 5,000 employees the Group recorded revenues of € 690 million and a reported EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) of € 126 million in the 2014 business year. Sivantos’ international sales organization supplies products to hearing aid specialists and sales organizations in more than 120 countries. Particular emphasis is placed on product development. The declared goal is to make Sivantos with its brands Siemens, Audio Service, Rexton, A&M and HearUSA the market leader in the years to come.. The owners of Sivantos are the anchor investors EQT together with the Strüngmann family and Siemens as co-investors.
Further information can be found under www.sivantos.com
About audibene GmbH
audibene is the global leader in online hearing care. The company was founded in early 2012 by Marco Vietor and Paul Crusius to harness the power of the internet to deliver high-quality hearing care to first-time customers. With its unique data-driven case management approach audibene places the customer at the center of all its activities defining new standards of quality and efficiency in hearing care. Together with a network of more than 800 audiology partners it currently serves customers in German, Netherland and Switzerland. audibene is headquartered in Berlin where the majority of its 180 employees are also located. audibene aims at leading the industry in hearing care innovation and focuses on expanding its growth model globally.
Further information on www.audibene.de
