The Widex and Sivantos merger is on again
Manufacturers
The on-off relationship between Widex and Sivantos is seemingly back on, with a news item appearing on Reuters on January 10 stating an application seeking European Commission approval for their planned $8 billion merger has been reopened according to public records.
The original application to merge the Danish family-owned manufacturer, Widex, with the German Sivantos was made in May 2018. The plan was to establish a global hearing aid leader generating combined revenues of approximately EUR 1.6 billion and employing more than 10,000 people worldwide, across 125 markets throughout the world. The transaction valued the combined entity, in May 18, at a value of more than EUR 7 billion. The press release highlighted this merger was established with the “ambition to redefine the competitive landscape for hearing aids serving both existing users as well as improving the offering and access to the millions with hearing impairments.”
With the merger due to be finalised on November 12th, a surprise announcement came on October 30th of the withdrawal of the merger application. At the time of the withdrawal the owner of Sivantos Group, private equity firm EQT, said the deal would still go ahead and be closed sometime in the first half of 2019.
Following the reopening of the application, a spokesman for Widex has told Reuters they also expect the merger to go through within the first quarter of 2019.
Source: Reuters.
