INVESTMENTS

William Demant Invest A/S is the holding company for William Demant Foundation’s investment activities. Both entities have identical Boards of Directors although voting rights and decisions to buy or sell Demant A/S shares are exercised and made by William Demant Foundation. William Demant Foundation has communicated a 55-60% ownership interval in Demant A/S.

The wholly-owned relationship between William Demant Foundation and William Demant Invest A/S as well as the identical Boards of Directors ensure that investments are carried out in respect of the charter of William Demant Foundation along with the investment strategy outlined in William Demant Invest A/S.

Demant A/S

Demant A/S is a leading global company that develops, manufactures and sells hearing instruments, hearing implants, diagnostic instruments and personal communication devices, and the company is behind the commercial successes of such world-renowned brands as Oticon, Bernafon, Sonic, Oticon Medical, Maico, Interacoustics, Grason-Stadler and Sennheiser Communications. The Group operates in a global market with companies in more than 30 countries, has a total staff exceeding 14,000 and generates annual revenues of more than DKK 13 billion. Their products are sold in more than 130 countries. Demant A/S was listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen in 1995.

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Össur hf.

Össur is a global leader in non-invasive orthopedics, focused on delivering innovative solutions in the prosthetics and bracing and supports market. The company was founded in 1971, is headquartered in Iceland and operates with 3,000 employees in 25 countries. In 2017, Össur generated revenue of USD 569 million with an EBITDA margin of 17%. Össur has been listed on the Icelandic Stock Exchange since 1999 and on NASDAQ Copenhagen since 2009.

William Demant Invest started investing in Össur in 2004 and has continually bought up Össur shares. Today, William Demant Invest is the largest shareholder with approx. 52% ownership.

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Vision RT Ltd.

Vision RT is an English-based medico company, founded in 2001. The company develops and produces camera systems and software that improve and streamline the use of X-rays for the treatment of cancer tumors. The camera systems make it possible to monitor and position-control the patient in real-time to ensure that the patient is in the correct position during radiation therapy and that the cancer patient’s healthy cells and tissues are exposed to as little harmful radiation as possible.
The company has seen very strong growth over the last couple of years, increasing the number of employees to more than 150 in 2017, while still maintaining a very attractive double-digit EBITDA margin.

William Demant Invest acquired approximately 89% of the shares in Vision RT in 2018.

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Vitrolife AB

Vitrolife was founded in 1994 and was one of the first companies to deal with IVF treatment. Today, Vitrolife is an international medical device Group for assisted reproduction. The Fertility product area develops, produces and markets medical devices for assisted reproduction. Work is also carried out to enable the use and handling of stem cells for therapeutic purposes. Vitrolife has approx. 330 employees and the company’s products are sold in about 110 markets. The company is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, and in 2017, the company’s revenue arrived at SEK 1,046 million with an EBITDA margin of around 40%.

William Demant Invest started investing in Vitrolife in 2014, selling its ownership of FertiliTech shares to Vitrolife. Today William Demant Invest owns approx. 22% of the company.

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CellaVision AB

Cellavision is a Swedish-based medico company, founded in 2001 by Christer Fåhraues with the vision to digitalise traditional microscopy in the field of hematology. Today, more than four billion blood samples are taken each year of which around 15% require further analysis. Cellavision develops analyzers, software and applications that make it easier, faster and more efficient to carry out this “further analysis”, i.e. pre-classification of white-blood cell types or morphological characteristics of red-blood cells. Traditionally, this analysis has been carried out by laboratory personal using manual microscopy.

Today, Cellavision is the only serious provider of a commercial viable solution in the hematology market, with an estimated market penetration rate of around 18%. In 2017, Cellavision’s revenue amounted to SEK 309 million with an EBITDA margin of 32%.

William Demant Invest started investing in Cellavision in 2017, and has continually bought up Cellavision shares. With an ownership of just over 10%, William Demant Invest is the majority shareholder in the company.

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Jeudan A/S

The Jeudan group is Denmark’s largest publicly listed real estate and service company. The group’s activities consist of investment in and operation of commercial and residential properties, mainly in Copenhagen, and a complete offering of advisory services and building within real estate – through Jeudan Servicepartner. In 2017, Jeudan’s revenue arrived at DKK 1,333 million, powered by a portfolio of more than 200 properties with a book value north of DKK 23 billion. The company has approx. 420 employees.

The group’s strategy aims at continued growth and profitability based on the values “Orderly, Competent and Accessible”. William Demant Invest started investing in Jeudan in 2004 and has continually bought up Jeudan shares. Today, William Demant Invest is, with approx. 42% of the ownership, one of the two largest shareholders.

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Borkum Riffgrund 1

In 2012, William Demant Invest A/S entered into a joint operation with KIRKBI and DONG Energy (now Ørsted) to construct a wind farm in the North Sea at the German coast. The wind farm consists of 78 Siemens 4.0 MW turbines with a total capacity of 312 MW and is capable of providing green energy to 320,000 German households.

The 50% ownership in Borkum Riffgrund 1 is held by Boston Holding A/S, where William Demant Invest A/S owns 37% and KIRKBI the remaining 63%. Ørsted owns the other 50% of Borkum Riffgrund 1.