MILAN, ITALY — One of the world’s largest hearing aid retailers, Amplifon SpA, is reported to be targeting potential retail acquisitions in Germany, France and Canada and announced plans to enter the Chinese market by the end of 2018.
Enrico Vita, Amplifon CEO
The company, which says it holds approximately 10 percent of the global market, has been focused on improving its position as the top hearing aid retailer in the world, and reportedly has up to €480 million euros ($594 million USD) for investments and acquisitions over the next two years. This substantial funding will allow the company to compete with hearing aid manufacturer’s increasing interest in the retail sector–most notably to compete with Sonova, which acquired one of the largest retail hearing aid chains in Europe, AudioNova, in 2016 for nearly $1 billion USD.
“The business plan does not envisage transformational deals but the group will be ready to pursue bigger targets” –Enrico Vita, Amplifon CEO
Amplifon, which owns well-known US brands like Miracle Ear and the Elite Hearing Network, said it plans to reach a core profit margin of 18.5 percent at the end of a new 2018-20 business plan.
According to a company statement, to remain competitive, it plans to implement the following over the next three years:
- A customer-centric strategy to offer a distinctive and highly innovative customer experience with the launch of Amplifon product-lines and proprietary multi-channel eco-system
- A differentiated growth strategy, focused on core worldwide markets. China is recognized as a “sizeable opportunity” for medium-term growth
- Investments to support effective execution capability through a distinctive corporate culture, attraction of top talents, sharing of best practices and extension of the global integrated IT infrastructure.
