In mid-February, Sennheiser announced that it wanted to set up the divisions more independently and to look for a buyer for the consumer division, which includes the headphone business for end customers. This has now been found with an investor from Switzerland. The purchase price is 200 million euros.
Complete transfer of operations by the end of the year
The buyer of Sennheiser's “Consumer Division” is the Swiss Sonova Holding AG, which claims to be the world market leader in the field of hearing aids and cochlear implants – the company is therefore quite familiar with acoustics. Sonova intends to raise the necessary financial resources from the company's existing funds. The supervisory authorities have yet to approve the takeover. If the purchase is approved, which is currently assumed, the complete transfer of operations should be completed by the end of the year.
The Sennheiser brand is used under license
Sonova can continue to operate the Sennheiser brand under license, so headphones and soundbars will probably continue to be sold under this brand in the future. According to Sennheiser, a long-term cooperation between the two companies is planned under the common Sennheiser brand. Both partners see great potential in the market for voice-optimized hearables as well as for true wireless and high-end headphones.
Sennheiser's consumer division comprises around 600 employees and has recently achieved an annual turnover of 250 million euros. The transfer of operations and the change of employees to Sonova should be coordinated with the works council.
Business communications growth market
From now on Sennheiser wants to dedicate itself to the professional business, which includes the Pro Audio, Business Communications and Neumann business units. Above all, Sennheiser would like to take advantage of the current growth opportunities in the area of business communications and grow above average in this environment from its own resources.