William Demant Holdings enters into agreement on takeover of American Otix Global, Inc.

Company Announcement No 2010-13	   13 September 2010 

Today, William Demant Holding has entered into an agreement on the takeover of  
Otix Global, Inc., an American hearing aid company listed on NASDAQ, for a total
amount of USD 50m, equal to DKK 293m. The price at closing on debt-free basis is
expected to amount to USD 65-70m based on the expected closing balance sheet.   

Technically, the parties have entered into a binding, conditional merger        
agreement stating that Otix Global will be merged with a company that has been  
established for that particular purpose; a company that is fully controlled by  
William Demant Holding. Under the merger agreement, the shareholders of Otix    
Global will receive a cash consideration equal to USD 8.60 per Otix Global      
share.                                                                          

The transaction will be completed provided that the merger is adopted at Otix   
Global's general meeting by shareholders representing a majority of the voting  
share capital, and that the merger is duly approved by the competition          
authorities in certain countries.                                               

Otix Global develops and sells hearing aids under the brand Sonic to hearing    
care professionals through its own sales companies and an international         
distributor network. Furthermore, Otix Global owns and operates its own         
distribution activities in the USA and Australia. In 2009, Otix Global recorded 
a turnover of USD 96m and an operating profit (EBITDA) of USD -3.7m. At 31      
December 2009, Otix Global's equity amounted to USD 32m.                        

With the acquisition of Otix Global and thereby the Sonic brand, a third brand  
will be added to the two existing brands of William Demant Holding.             
Consequently, William Demant Holding will to an even greater extent be capable  
of addressing various customer needs in the market. The Group expects that, in  
future, the Sonic brand will be able to play an important part in relation to   
selected customer segments particularly in the USA, which already constitute the
main market for the Sonic products. Moreover, due to William Demant Holding's   
global presence etc., the Sonic products are expected to be offered to customers
in a number of other markets. Consequently, the takeover will support the       
Group's significant growth ambitions in the years to come. In the global hearing
aid market, the acquisition of the Sonic brand is expected to result in an      
increase of the Group's market share by almost 1 percentage point in terms of   
volume.                                                                         

As part of William Demant Holding's wholesale business, the Sonic brand will    
benefit from the Group's competitive infrastructure and R&D capabilities, which 
is expected to strengthen the market position of the brand in both the short and
the long term. In the USA we see a potential of leveraging our existing efforts 
by a closer co-operation between Bernafon and Sonic in the wholesale business.  
We expect synergies to be achieved within all areas, including development,     
production, logistics, marketing and distribution.                              

Otix Global's distribution activities in the USA and Australia are expected to  
continue without any change and will form a natural part of William Demant      
Holding's distribution activities in the future.                                

The Board of Otix Global endorses the merger based among other things on a      
so-called fairness opinion regarding the valuation. Against this background,    
Otix Global's Board will recommend that its shareholders vote in favour of the  
merger at an extraordinary general meeting. The merger with Otix Global is      
expected to be completed in the coming months, and closing is expected to take  
place in the period running from mid-November 2010 to year-end.                 

As closing will not take place until the end of the year, the effect on the     
Group's turnover and profit for 2010 will be modest.                            

For further information on Otix Global and the contemplated merger, please also 
see www.otixglobal.com and the material on the transaction published today by   
Otix Global.                                                                    

                                                                         

Further information:                                                            
Niels Jacobsen, President & CEO, phone +45 39 13 82 73                          
VP, Finance & IR Stefan Ingildsen, mobile +45 29 22 02 70                       
IR Manager Søren B. Andersson, mobile +45 51 17 66 57                           
www.demant.com