EU Approval Clears Path for Amplifon’s €2.3 Billion GN Hearing Deal
Key Facts
Amplifon has received European Commission approval to acquire GN Hearing’s hearing business, in a step the company described as the final regulatory clearance needed for the deal. The company said the two previous approvals came from Australia and the United States, completing the clearances it needs before moving on to the remaining closing procedures. The deal is valued at about €2.3 billion on a cash-free, debt-free basis, under the agreement the companies announced in March 2026. Amplifon is due to pay €1.69 billion in cash, along with issuing GN about 56 million of its shares at closing. The European approval puts the deal in its final regulatory stage, while completion remains subject to other conditions set out in the agreement.
The companies announced the acquisition agreement on 16 March 2026, setting consideration as a mix of cash and shares. Under the structure, GN will receive €1.69 billion in cash, plus 56 million Amplifon shares, with the consideration to be delivered when the deal closes. Amplifon valued GN Hearing at about €2.3 billion on a cash-free, debt-free basis when it announced the deal. The company said the remaining cash portion of the consideration will be funded by a €1.35 billion term loan subscribed in June 2026. It added that the loan may later be refinanced through a mix of loans and bonds, depending on market conditions. The deal financing therefore includes a substantial cash commitment alongside a share issuance, with the funding mix potentially changing after the initial borrowing.
The deal brings together Amplifon and GN Hearing’s business, which generated revenue of 7.2 billion Danish kroner in fiscal 2025, equivalent to about €1 billion, according to Amplifon figures. The company estimated that the combined group would generate about €3.3 billion in revenue based on 2025 results. It also said the combined group would operate in more than 100 countries after the acquisition is completed. These estimates put the scale of the two businesses in context, comparing projected combined revenue with GN Hearing’s reported revenue in the previous fiscal year. The combined group figures remain estimates contingent on completion of the deal, while GN Hearing’s revenue is for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2025. The available facts do not specify a separate date for when combined revenue would begin to be counted after closing.
Amplifon set expected net annual savings in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of between €60 million and €80 million by the end of 2029. The company said most of those savings would come from bringing the volumes of hearing devices it sells in-house. The plan indicates that achieving the targeted savings is tied to integrating GN Hearing’s business into the group after the acquisition is completed, with the announced timeline extending to the end of 2029. Amplifon said planning for the integration is progressing according to schedule. It added that the goal is to be operationally ready when the deal closes. That puts the integration process alongside the completion of closing conditions, as the company continues to plan for the next operational phase following approval.
Despite the completion of regulatory approvals, closing remains conditional on separating GN Hearing from the GN group, as well as customary closing requirements. Amplifon expects to complete the acquisition by the end of 2026, subject to those requirements being met. This means the European approval does not conclude the remaining procedures, as the separation must be completed before the business transfers to its new owner. The company also said integration planning is progressing according to schedule, with operational readiness targeted for closing. The announced end-2026 timeline remains contingent on completing the outstanding requirements, rather than on regulatory approvals alone. According to Amplifon, the next steps are completing the separation and preparing to close the deal.
The original deal announcement on 16 March 2026 coincided with divergent moves in the two companies’ shares. GN Store Nord shares rose 36% that day, while Amplifon shares fell more than 8%, according to Investing.com. Two days after the announcement, Amplifon shares were priced at €8.02, compared with a close of €10.52 on 13 March, the session before the deal was announced. Those prices and moves date to March and do not represent the market reaction to the European Commission’s approval on 6 November. The approval news marks a further development in a process that began with the deal announcement in March, followed by loan financing in June, and now awaits completion of the GN Hearing separation and closing conditions. The available facts did not include data on share movements in the session when European approval was announced.