Acton et al. sell audibene to EQT-backed Sivantos

Harriet Bailey
27 March 2015

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Acton Capital Partners and Sunstone Capital have sold audibene to Sivantos, the former Siemens hearing-aid unit now owned by EQT.

The company's founders will remain shareholders in the business and will continue to serve as managing directors. They also received shares in Sivantos as part of the transaction.

Under Sivantos's ownership, audibene will continue to operate independently and all staff members will remain employed by the company. The buyer stated the younger target audience of audibene supports its market expansion strategy.

In November last year, EQT acquired hearing aid manufacturer Siemens Audiology Solutions (SAS) for €2.15bn, investing alongside the Strüngmann Family. Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and UBS provided a 50% debt package to facilitate the transaction. EQT, Siemens and the Strüngmann Family combined former Siemens hearing aid brands Rexton, A&M, HearUSA and SAS into Sivantos.

Sivantos can trace its roots back to 1878, when Werner von Siemens designed a telephone receiver specifically designed for those with impaired hearing. The 5,000-strong company sold three million hearing aids in 120 countries in 2014. It generates revenues of €693m and has a reported EBITDA of around €145m.

Previous funding
Acton invested in audibene via its Heureka I fund, a €150m vehicle closed in 2008. Sunstone Capital also invested in the company's series-A funding round in 2013, committing a total of €3m across two rounds.

Company
Founded in 2012, audibene is a consultation portal for hearing care and hearing aids. The devices are fitted by local audiologists. Headquartered in Berlin, the company also operates in the Netherlands and Switzerland and has a network of 800 audiology partners across the three countries. The company has 180 employees.

People
Paul Crusius and Marco Vietor are co-founders of audibene. Maximilian Niederhofer is general partner at Sunstone. Christoph Braun is managing partner at Acton. Roger Radke is CEO of the Sivantos Group.