Amplifon SpA is an Italian company, based in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, and the world's largest

hearing aid A hearing aid is a device designed to improve hearing by making sound audible to a person with hearing loss. Hearing aids are classified as medical devices in most countries, and regulated by the respective regulations. Small audio amplifiers su ...

retailer.

History

Amplifon was founded in 1950 in

Algernon Charles Holland Algernon Charles Holland (10 February 1919 – 2001) was a British businessman, and the founder of Amplifon. Early life Holland was born on 10 February 1919 in Horsham, Sussex. His father, Algernon Holland, a Captain in the Royal Air Force, di ...

, a former official of the British special forces, involved in the

Italian Resistance movement The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social ...

. At the end of the World War II, he started a company aimed at supporting those who experienced hearing loss due to the conflict, establishing a widespread local presence and building a solid relationship with hearing care professionals. In the 1960s and the 1970s, Amplifon opened stores in every region of Italy, becoming the market leader in the supply, sales, and fitting of hearing aids. In 1971, the Amplifon Centre for Research and Studies (CRS) was founded: an independent organisation aimed at spreading knowledge in the audiological and otological fields, through resources and research. During the 90s, Amplifon began tailoring the services to the client, rolling out the first digital hearing aids in Italy in 1996. In this period, the company gained a market share of over 40%. In 1992, a new company was founded in Spain, Amplifon Iberica, which expanded into Portugal a few years later. Between 1998 and 2000, Amplifon entered Switzerland, Austria, France,

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and the United States markets through acquisitions. The Amplifon stock started to be traded in the

Borsa Italiana Borsa Italiana, based in Milan, is the Italian stock exchange. It manages and organises domestic market, regulating procedures for admission and listing of companies and intermediaries and supervising disclosures for listed companies.italy24.ils ...

in June 2001. In the same year, they entered a joint venture with Bardissi Medical in the Middle East, in Egypt, alongside the acquisition of stores in Hungary. In 2002, Amplifon acquired the Sonus Corporation in the United States, and later in 2003 took hold of the National Hearing Centers, a company with stores located primarily in large shopping centres. In the following years Amplifon continued its acquisition strategy in the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Belgium. In 2010, in fact, the company acquired 100% of National Hearing Care (NHC) in Australia, New Zealand and India. In 2012 they expanded into more regions in India, acquired 51% of Maxtone in the Turkish Market, and entered the Polish market by founding Amplifon Poland. Brazil followed in 2014 with Amplifon's purchase of 51% of shares in the Brazilian company Direito de Ouvir. In 2016 the company invested Euro 80 million to acquire 170 stores, including two retail chains in Germany and another in Canada. In 2017, Amplifon invested a further Euro 110 million for the acquisition of 300 stores, including two retail chains in France and Portugal. A year later, Amplifon completed its largest acquisition, acquiring the Spanish GAES for Euro 528 million. GAES has 600 stores (about 500 in Spain, and the remainder scattered across Portugal and Latin America), 1,800 employees, and 210 million in revenue. Since 2015, the Amplifon stock value tripled, outperforming the

FTSE MIB The FTSE MIB (Milano Indice di Borsa) (the S&P/MIB prior to June 2009) is the benchmark stock market index for the Borsa Italiana, the Italian national stock exchange, which superseded the MIB-30 in September 2004. The index consists of the 40 mo ...

, the index of the top 40 listed companies in the

. As of August 2018, the share price has risen nearly 1,000% since its IPO. The chairman is

Susan Carol Holland Susan Carol Holland (born 27 May 1956) is an Italian-British billionaire businesswoman, and the chairman of Amplifon, an Italian hearing aid retailer founded by in Milan in 1950 by her father Algernon Charles Holland. Early life Holland earned a ...

, daughter of Algernon, who owns 44.9% of Amplifon through her family's holding company.

Business and operations

Amplifon has an 11% global market share, and is present in 29 countries, in the geographic areas of EMEA, the Americas, and APAC. The company operates through a network of about 5,150 direct points of sale, 4,000 shop-in-shops and corners and 1,800 stores affiliated to the network, employing 16,000 employees overall. The business is primarily focused on the sale and fitting of hearing aids.

References

{{FTSE MIB companies Italian companies established in 1950 Health care companies established in 1950 Hearing aid manufacturers Medical technology companies of Italy Companies based in Milan Italian brands