Amplifon said on Tuesday it inked a deal to acquire Spanish hearing aid retailer Gaes in a deal worth $614.9 million (EU €528 million).
Gaes, founded in 1949, is currently the leading hearing aid retailer in Spain and employs approximately 1,800 individuals, with 600 sales points globally. Amplifon touted the company as the largest privately-owned hearing care retailer worldwide.
“This major acquisition represents a key milestone in the history of our company and perfectly fits Amplifon’s growth strategy, allowing us to consolidate our global leadership and enabling us to become market leader in Spain, as well as consolidate our market position in Portugal while entering also the Latin American region. The combination with Gaes’ profitable business, the benefits of greater scale and the strong financial profile will enable us to successfully pursue our recently communicated development plans, thus creating tremendous new opportunities to drive growth, pursue excellence and innovation in customer experience and deliver significant shareholder value. Finally, we strongly believe this deal represents a significant opportunity for both companies’ employees and customers, given both Amplifon and GAES have long histories of unrivalled quality of service and utmost attention to customers,” Amplifon CEO Enrico Vita said in a press release.
Gaes reported sales of $244.6 (EU €210 million) with adjusted EBITDA of approximately $34.9 million (EU €30 million), Amplifon said.
“This deal represents a great opportunity for Gaes to become part of the leading global retail hearing care group while leading and accelerating its expansion through the Gaes brand in Spain and Latin America. We both share very similar cultural values based on customer centricity, personal impact and passion for excellence, which will facilitate people integration within a leading group and will create exciting career opportunities both in Spain and around the world,” Gaes CEO Antonio Gassó said in a prepared statement.