Amplifon SpA : Amplifon: enters Turkey through the acquisition of 51% of Maxtone

PRESS RELEASE Amplifon S.p.A.: enters Turkey and looks to achieve market leadership through the acquisition of 51% of Maxtone, a modern retail company active in the commercialization of hearing solutions. Milan, January 16th, 2012: Amplifon, the Italian Group worldwide leader in the distribution and personalization of hearing solutions, has finalized the acquisition of 51% of Maxtone, a modern retail company active in the commercialization of hearing aids.

The Maxtone acquisition represents a transaction of significant strategic importance for the Group as it allows Amplifon to enter a geographic area where it is not yet present and which has great potential for future growth. This potential is reflected in a few key factors which position Turkey as the 14th largest economy in the world, with a hearing solutions market that is growing at a robust pace, from the 25,000 hearing aids sold in
2001 to the more than 100,000 sold in 2010 (CAGR +15%).
Turkey also possesses unique characteristics, both structural and specific to the sector, which render it a particularly interesting market for the Amplifon Group: the public healthcare system has an efficient, sustainable regulated reimbursement policy and there are approximately 72 million inhabitants, some 26 million of which are concentrated in 5 of the country's largest cities alone.
Maxtone is the first Turkish player to have begun developing a highly innovative retail approach through the completion of modern, avant-garde concept stores. Thanks to this approach the company provides the Turkish market with an advanced business model which consists in a mixed medical/retail formula that is profoundly different with respect to the local market, in which a largely medical approach still prevails.
Maxtone is active in Turkey through 8 stores strategically located in Turkey's most important cities (Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir and, opening soon, Bursa and Adana), which, by themselves, cover approximately one third of the total population. The expected sales for
2012 are about 2 million euro.
The consideration for the transaction amounts to approximately 1 million euro, including the earn-out linked to the achievement of sales and profitability targets over the next 5 years.

"Within a market as highly fragmented as the Turkish one - Franco Moscetti, the Amplifon's Chief Executive Officer stated - once again the Amplifon Group has proven its ability to find a local company with a retail business model and corporate values similar to its own which, moreover, has an excellent reputation with the medical-scientific community".

"The profound understanding of the market that the entire Maxtone team possesses along with the shared vision of how to approach the market - Moscetti concluded - will provide Amplifon with the ability to closely monitor the local market in order to single out other, small acquisitions to continue to systematically develop its business".

When commenting on the acquisition, Ersin Oray, founder and CEO of Maxtone, stated "We are happy to become part of the Amplifon Group, the global sector leader, and we believe that we will be able to contribute to the Group's success in a country with strong growth prospects".

Amplifon, listed on the STAR segment and the FTSE Italia Mid Cap Index of the Milan Stock Exchange, is worldwide leader in the distribution and fitting of hearing aids and related services.

Through a network of over 3,000 points of sale and 2,200 service centres, Amplifon is active in Italy, the Netherlands, France, Germany, the UK and Ireland, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg, Hungary, North America (USA and Canada), Australia, New Zealand, India, Egypt and Turkey.

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Investor Relations: Amplifon S.p.A. Emilia Trudu

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Media Relations: Barabino & Partners Sabrina Ragone [e-mail] Claudio Cosetti [e-mail]

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