Nord Holding buys Oton, Ohrwerk, creates AudiOsono

AudiOsono is the holding company that will be used to make further acquisitions. Oton and Ohrwerk will operate under the trade name of Ohrwerk Hörgeräte.

Wilhelm Evers has been appointed as CEO of AudiOsono.

Asked about how the deal came about, Philipp von Mitzlaff, an investment committee member at Nord Holding, told Unquote: "In our proactive healthcare screening approach, we also screened veterinary, rehabilitation, optical and audiology buy-and-builds. We built an expert network and made proactive approaches. Due to this work we met Paul Stodden, an ex-Siemens divisional CEO and holder of several board seats in Germany, and he introduced us to Wilhelm Evers.

"This all took place at the beginning of the coronavirus crisis. We structured the deal during the outbreak, and closely monitored the Covid-19 impact at point-of-sale level – this altered between -20% sales to no effect."

AudiOsono currently has 29 sites and Nord Holding aims to expand the business to 150 specialist stores, growing the businesses in partnership with their management teams.

"We are seeking single-store businesses with an established track record and a strong local presence," David Wössner, investment manager at Nord Holding, told Unquote, "as well as smaller groups of up to 30-40 stores at once. Our geographical focus is nationwide, with the preference to establish regional clusters. Revenues are typically between €300,000-500,000 per store at an EBITDA margin of around 20-40%."

The GP does not have a set number of add-ons in mind to reach the goal of 150 stores, Wössner said. "It depends on the number of stores per add-on, but our short-term pipeline consists of around 10 targets with 30 stores, which we are currently talking to or are already at an advanced negotiation stage."

The company currently has an enterprise value of less than €25m.

The deal is financed via senior financing and an acquisition finance line from a healthcare-focused German bank.

Company
AudiOsono currently comprises premium hearing aid and hearing services companies Ohrwerk and Oton, which employ 75 people. The company is headquartered in Hanover. 

AudiOsono is currently forecast to generate revenues of €12m and EBITDA of €2.5m, with another add-on to be announced at a later date, Wössner told Unquote.

People
Nord Holding – Philipp von Mitzlaff (investment committee member); André Seidel (senior investment manager); David Wössner (investment manager).
AudiOsono – Wilhelm Evers (CEO).
Oton – Andreas Roberg (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – Codex Partners, Clemens Beickler (commercial due diligence); BPG, Andreas Hoffmann (financial due diligence, tax); SNP Schlawien, Philipp Schlawien (legal); CMS, Klaus Jäger (legal); Taylor Wessing, Ulf Gosejacob (legal).

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