SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 11, 2002--Sonic Innovations Inc. (Nasdaq: SNCI), developer, manufacturer and marketer of NATURA®, ALTAIR™, QUARTET™, conforma™ and adesso™ advanced digital hearing aids, Monday announced that it has acquired OMNI-ReSound ApS, a Denmark-based distributor of hearing aids and tinnitus products.
OMNI-ReSound primarily sells to Danish public sector dispensing clinics and hearing health care centers, which currently account for approximately 90 percent of that country's sales of hearing health care products. OMNI-ReSound has distributed Sonic Innovations' products since 1999 and has achieved a 10 percent market share in Denmark.
The company is also an important supplier of devices used to remedy tinnitus, a condition marked by ringing in the ears. The acquisition is anticipated to be immediately accretive to Sonic Innovations' results. OMNI-ReSound's management team will remain in place and will continue to work closely with Sonic Innovations A/S, the company's European headquarters, which is also located in Denmark.
Andy Raguskus, president and chief executive officer of Sonic Innovations Inc., stated, "We are excited about the addition of OMNI-ReSound ApS to our company. OMNI-ReSound has done an outstanding job in building Sonic Innovations' market position in Denmark, especially considering that Denmark is home to three of the world's other leading hearing aid manufacturers.
"This transaction demonstrates our strong commitment to building our reputation and presence in Europe, as part of our strategy for expanding global distribution channels for our leading-edge hearing aid products."
Hans Fenger, key shareholder and managing director of OMNI-ReSound ApS, said, "Becoming part of Sonic Innovations, a technology leader with innovative hearing aid products, will allow us to project ourselves as a company that is serious about contributing to improving hearing health care in Denmark and is positioned to seek a greater share of the Danish hearing aid market.
"I believe this step is right for OMNI-ReSound ApS, our customers, our employees and, most importantly, the hearing impaired consumer."
Sonic Innovations designs, develops, manufactures and markets advanced digital hearing aids that are designed to provide the highest levels of satisfaction for hearing impaired consumers.
Capitalizing on a new understanding of human hearing, the company has developed patented digital signal processing, or DSP, technologies and embedded them in the smallest single-chip DSP platform ever installed in a hearing aid.
The company believes its hearing aids set a new standard for consumer satisfaction because they are smaller, more comfortable, more reliable and deliver more natural sound than competing hearing aids. Our Internet address is www.sonici.com and Sonic Innovations A/S' Internet address is www.sonici.dk.
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined under securities laws, including statements concerning our expectations that the OMNI-ReSound acquisition will be accretive to the company's results.
Actual results may differ materially and adversely from those described in this press release depending on a number of factors, including general economic and hearing aid market conditions in Denmark; difficulties in integrating OMNI-ReSound's operations with our own on an economically advantageous basis; the potential loss of other manufacturers' product lines currently sold by OMNI-ReSound; the potential loss of the annually awarded Danish government hearing aid contract; problems with product manufacturing, distribution or market acceptance of our products; the competitive performance of our products; relationships with our customers; delays in completing or introducing new products; regulatory requirements; component availability and pricing; the effect of international conflicts and threats; and other business factors beyond our control.
For additional information regarding the risks inherent in our business, please see our Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2001 and Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2000 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
We undertake no obligation to revise the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
CONTACT:
Sonic Innovations Inc., Salt Lake City
Stephen L. Wilson, 801/365-2804
Andrew G. Raguskus, 801/365-2800
For more information on Sonic Innovations click here.
Click here to visit the Sonic Innovations website.
