Danish company William Demant Holding A/S, Copenhagen, one of the world's leading suppliers of audiology products, and German company Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG, one of the world's leading makers of professional electroacoustic products, announce today the establishment of a joint venture in the telecommunication headset industry.

The William Demant Holding Group will transfer its current headset business to the joint venture, and Sennheiser will complement this with its newly established telecom business unit and global distribution network.

The newly established joint venture Sennheiser Communications A/S, to be based in Copenhagen, Denmark, will combine the core competencies of William Demant and Sennheiser, providing leading-edge acoustic and electronic headset products. These, along with matching communication interfaces, will be sold in the expanding global market for use in call centres, small office/home office and PC-applications.

The William Demant Holding Group will provide significant knowledge in semiconductor miniaturization, digital acoustic processing and digital wireless transmission to the new joint venture.

Sennheiser's knowledge of advanced microphone and headphone transducer technology and its established world-wide marketing channels will complement the joint venture, providing an outstanding product range to service the customers' needs with superior solutions.

In a joint statement today, Niels Jacobsen, President & CEO of William Demant Holding Group, and Rolf Meyer, President Marketing and Sales of Sennheiser electronic, commented:

"This is a joint venture driven by world-class technology, outstanding customer service and the backing of two of the best companies in their respective industries."

The new product range of Sennheiser Communications A/S will be introduced at the CeBit 2003 fair in Hanover, Germany, on 12 March  2003.

Further information

William Demant Holding A/S
President & CEO
Niels Jacobsen
Strandvejen 58
DK-2900 Hellerup
Tel: +45 3917 7100
Fax: + 45 3927 8900
www.demant.com   

Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG

Press and PR:
Edelgard Marquardt
Am Labor 1
D-30900 Wedemark
Tel: +49 (5130) 600-329
Fax: +49 (5130) 600-295
http://www.sennheiser.com/

About the joint venture partners

William Demant Holding A/S

The William Demant Group, listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange (WIDE.CO), consists of a group of international companies that develop, manufacture and sell innovative and highly advanced technological solutions in the hearing healthcare and personal communication field. Founded in 1904 as a Danish hearing aid company, today the Group consists of international businesses covering hearing instruments, diagnostic instruments and personal communication instruments. Through 45 Group companies located in more than 20 countries, consolidated Group sales are expected to exceed € 0.5bn in 2002.

Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG

As one of the world's leading manufacturers of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems, the Sennheiser Group with its headquarters in Wedemark near Hanover, Germany, had total sales of over € 220 million in 2001 with an export share of 80%.  Sennheiser has a total workforce of more than 1,400 employees, about 800 of whom are employed in Germany. Sennheiser is active world-wide and in addition to other partnerships, has own sales subsidiaries in France, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, China, Singapore, Canada, Mexico and the USA.