William Demant Invest Acquires Majority Shareholding in Vision RT Alongside the Company’s Founders

30 May 2018. The Danish medtech investment company, William Demant Invest A/S (WDI), has entered into an agreement with leading supplier of Surface Guided Radiation Therapy (SGRT), Vision RT, to acquire a majority shareholding of the company. Vision RT’s founders continue as shareholders.

Copenhagen, London 30 May 2018 – Vision RT and William Demant Invest (WDI) today announce the beginning of a new partnership. Following almost 17 years since its inception, Vision RT, the inventor of Surface Guided Radiation Therapy (SGRT), has transferred the majority of its longstanding privately held shareholding to WDI. Vision RT’s founders, Norman Smith, Gideon Hale and Ivan Meir continue as shareholders and the company will remain in its previous standalone form, with the same strategy, structure and management as before.

“We are extremely happy and proud to be joining the highly respected WDI family, which we see as an excellent fit for Vision RT, sharing common values and a commitment to improving the lives of millions of patients around the world. Whilst our business structure and organisation is to continue unchanged, we are excited to become part of WDI’s impressive portfolio of businesses. Through knowledge sharing between companies, we will be able to benefit from their world-class R&D expertise and global infrastructure. We are confident that this will help accelerate the growth of Vision RT and the realisation of our vision to establish SGRT as the standard of care on every Linac in every clinic around the world,” said Dr Norman Smith, CEO, Vision RT.

Vision RT and WDI share strong values focussed on high ethical standards and improving patient care. Furthermore, WDI is a long-term, evergreen investor with considerable medical device industry experience.

“We have a clear vision to always put our money in sustainable companies – both in terms of business and responsibility. This is exactly what we see in Vision RT, a very successful company with highly skilled employees, a strong management and market leading technology. The companies in which we invest need to contribute to the positive development of a healthy and prosperous society both in terms of coming up with new inventions, contributing to growth and offering new possibilities for people suffering from diseases. I’m very happy to see a perfect match with Vision RT in this respect,” said CEO Niels Jacobsen, William Demant Invest.

The agreement was signed on April 29, 2018, and closed on May 29, 2018.

About Vision RT

Founded in 2001 and based out of London, Vision RT is the pioneer and leading manufacturer of Surface Guided Radiation Therapy (SGRT). Employing almost 200 people, we provide innovative solutions to cancer clinics around the world, which improve efficiency, efficacy, safety and patient comfort during radiation therapy cancer treatment. The company is undergoing very fast growth, with over 1,000 systems already deployed worldwide, including to c.70% of the top 50 cancer centres in the US.

About William Demant Invest

Headquartered in Denmark, WDI is a highly respected evergreen investment company, wholly owned by the Oticon Foundation, which is a charitable foundation that contributes approx. 15 million dollars per annum to charity and research. WDI is the majority shareholder in the leading global hearing healthcare company William Demant Holding and Össur, a global leader in non-invasive orthopaedics. WDI also has significant holdings in Vitrolife (assisted reproduction), Jeudan (real estate) and Borkum Riffgrund 1 (offshore wind farm). The total number of employees around the world within the WDI family is more than 17,000. Upon closing of the agreement with Vision RT, WDI will hold approx. 85% ownership of the company.

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Further information, Vision RT:
Marketing Operations Manager Brenda Della Casa bdellacasa@www.visionrt.com
+44 20 8346 4300

Further information, William Demant Invest:
VP Corporate Communication Trine Kromann-Mikkelsen trkr@demant.com
+45 23 968 968