Demant

Medical equipment production company

For the surname, see Demant (surname).

Demant A/S

Formerly| William Demant Holding A/S (1997–2019)
Oticon Holding A/S (until 1997)
Company type| Public (Aktieselskab)

Traded as

| Nasdaq Copenhagen: DEMANT
Industry| Health care
Founded| 1904; 120 years ago (1904)
Founder| Hans Demant
Headquarters| Smørum, Denmark

Key people

| Niels B. Christiansen (Chairman)
Søren Nielsen (President & CEO)
Products| Hearing aids, audiometric equipment
Revenue|  DKK 13.189 billion (2017)

Operating income

|  DKK 2.338 billion (2017)

Net income

|  DKK 1.759 billion (2017)
Total assets|  DKK 16.222 billion (end 2017)
Total equity|  DKK 7.433 billion (end 2017)
Owner| 55-60% is owned by William Demant Invest A/S (which is wholly owned by the William Demant Foundation)[1]

Number of employees

|  21,000+ (2023)
Parent| William Demant Invest A/S[2]
Subsidiaries| Oticon
Bernafon
Website| www.demant.com

Demant A/S is a Danish multinational company involved with hearing care, hearing aids, audiometric equipment and personal communication devices.

## History

[edit]

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The business was founded in 1904 by Hans Demant, under the name Oticon. After his death in 1910, his son William Demant took over.[3]

Already before World War I, Oticon increased its sales volume to cover Scandinavia and Saint Petersburg. In the twenties and thirties, a network of agents was established in Europe.

During World War II, Oticon started its own production due to the scarcity of goods from other countries.

In 1957, William and his wife Ida Emilie donated the Demant family's shares in the company to the Oticon Foundation, which is now called the William Demant Foundation.[4] The Foundation's general aim is charity, with particular emphasis on helping people with a hearing impairment, and the Foundation is the main shareholder in the company, with a stake of app. 61%.[5]

During the 1990s, the company expanded further, buying the Swiss hearing aid manufacturer Bernafon, Phonic Ear, the headset manufacturer DanaCom and Interacoustics.

In 1995, the company was listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. In 1997, it was decided to change the name of the company from Oticon Holding A/S to William Demant Holding A/S, because it was considered disadvantageous to use the same name for both the corporate group and for one of its businesses. In 2019, the company changed its name to Demant A/S.

In February 2017, it was announced that then-President and CEO Niels Jacobsen would step down after 25 years in charge of the company. Instead, he would become CEO of William Demant Invest A/S. Since 1 April 2017[update], the company has been led by President and CEO Søren Nielsen and by board chairman Niels B. Christiansen.[6]

Demant is headquartered in Smørum (northwest of Copenhagen) and had sales of DKK 13.9 billion in 2018.[6]

In April 2022, Demant announced it had agreed to sell Oticon Medical to Australian company Cochlear Limited for DKK850 million and would exit the hearing implant business.[7]

In June 2022, Demant acquired Chinese retailer ShengWang at a cost of RMB 1.8 billion.[8] In November 2022, Demant acquired Japanese retailer MTHA.

## Business units

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The company focuses on these business units:

Hearing aids
Oticon, Bernafon, Sonic Innovations, Neurelec (cochlear implants, being divested) and Oticon Medical (bone anchored hearing aids)
Audiologist / Hearing aid sales
Audika (Australia, Germany, Denmark, France, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland)
Telex (Brazil)
HearingLife (Canada, United States)
SWTL (China)
Acoustica Medica (Greece, Portugal)
Hidden Hearing (Ireland, United Kingdom)
MTHA (Japan)
Hearing Partners (Malaysia, Singapore)
Van Boxtel (Luxembourg)
Idis (Turkey)
Medton-Hedim (Israel)
Diagnostic instruments
Maico Diagnostics, Interacoustics, Amplivox, Grason-Stadler, MedRx, Inc.,[9] AudioScan and Inventis.
Personal communication
Phonic Ear, Sennheiser Communications (defunct), EPOS
Instrument dealers
Gordon Stowe & Associates Inc., Northeastern Technologies Group Inc., Midlantic Technologies Group Inc.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Overview, William Demant Invest.
2. ^ Investments, William Demant Invest.
3. ^ "History". 2017-07-25. Archived from the original on 2017-07-25. Retrieved 2022-10-07.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
4. ^ "The Top Management Group That Got Fired – by Itself" (PDF). orgcon.ecomerc.com/. 2004. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
5. ^ "History". 2017-07-25. Archived from the original on 2017-07-25. Retrieved 2022-10-07.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
6. ^ a b Simonsen, Peter (2019-02-19). "William Demant-aktien falder brat". Finans (in Danish). Retrieved 2023-02-28.
7. ^ Ogg, Matt (2022-04-27). "Cochlear to acquire loss-making Oticon Medical for $170 million". Business News Australia. Archived from the original on 2022-05-17. Retrieved 2022-05-06.
8. ^ "Demant Announces Full Acquisition of ShengWang". The Hearing Review. 14 June 2022.
9. ^ "Business Activities". William Demant. Archived from the original on 8 May 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website

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OMX Copenhagen 25 companies of Denmark (December 2023)

* Ambu
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* ISNI

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