Hearing acoustics: Demant is allowed to take over the children's group

The German Federal Cartel Office has approved the acquisition of the Kind hearing aid stores and the hearing aid manufacturer audifon by the Demant Group. After initial skepticism, the antitrust authorities now see no disadvantage to competition.

The Federal Cartel Office approved the takeover of the company on November 19, 2025. Kind-Hearing aid stores and the manufacturer belonging to the group audifon GmbH & Co. KG through the Danish DiamondGroup approved. This transaction creates, according to the number of branches, the leading hearing aid providers Germany's Kind currently operates around 600 stores under the Kind brand, while Demant has approximately 350 outlets under various brands such as Audika and Ritter. This merger brings together the third-largest and fourth-largest hearing aid retailers in Germany in terms of number of stores. 

The authority submits to the merger control the focus specifically on functional Competition: The hearing aid market in Germany is diverse, with over 7.000 businesses. Besides Demant and Kind, Sonova Retail Germany (brand: Geers) and Amplifon Germany, a subsidiary of Amplifon SpA, are among the largest providers, each with several hundred branches. Many regional providers, Independent hearing aid specialists and optician chains such as Fielmann, Apollo, and Rottler, some of which have expanded their services to include hearing aids, compete in the market. Some ENT practices supplement their range of services with targeted hearing aid services.

Antitrust concerns addressed

The Federal Cartel Office examined the competitive structures in approximately 80 catchment areas of the companies and initially focused on 17 regions competitive concernsFollowing consultation, the companies amended their application documents and sold three hearing aid locations in the Kassel region to an independent third party. The competition concerns still raised by the Federal Cartel Office for 15 market areas, such as the Ore Mountains or Saarland, could no longer be considered in the overall decision.

In merger control, the so-called de minimis market clause des Section 36 Paragraph 1 No. 2 GWB, according to which mergers can only be prohibited if the total volume the individual markets in which the merger would significantly impair competition will lead at least 20 million euros This was achieved. This was no longer the case after the project was changed.

Sufficient selection of alternatives

Demant also integrates the Hearing system manufacturer audifon from the Kind Group to the corporation. Despite Demant's important role in the international hearing aid market, the antitrust authorities recognize no adverse effect on competition. "Even after the merger, consumers will still have a sufficient selection of hearing aids from alternative manufacturers such as WS Audiology, Sonova, and GN Hearing, which are sold under well-known brand names," the assessment states. The participating companies also did not gain a competitive advantage in product development. "Even in the vertical integration..." Relationship between hearing aid manufacturers and hearing aid acousticians The merger will not impair competition.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Federal Cartel Office, explains: "Through the merger, a new entity is formed the largest hearing aid chain in Germany with around 1.000 branches. However, in the vast majority of the affected cities and regions, there are still branches even after the merger. sufficient competition through other nationwide chains as well as regional providers, thus offering consumers sufficient alternatives. We recently had some concerns regarding 15 regional markets. However, due to the small size of these markets, German antitrust law does not permit a prohibition of the overall project.

Source: Federal Cartel Office

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