GN Store Nord (GN.CO), Danish hearing aid and headset manufacturer, announced on Wednesday that it will buy gaming gear startup Steelseries from Nordic private equity firm Axcel for 8 billion Danish crowns ($1.25 billion).
“We have for some time searched for the right way for GN to enter the very interesting gaming market, being keenly interested in the ‘high-end’ segment,” said René Svendsen-Tune, chief executive of GN Audio, the company’s headset unit.
Steelseries, which has offices in Denmark, France, the United States, China, and Taiwan, employs roughly 350 people and generated 2.2 billion crowns in revenue last year. Steelseries had 1.3 billion in revenue in the first half of 2021, with 14.0 percent earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization (EBITA) margin. GN predicted that the merger will result in yearly operating efficiencies of roughly 150 million crowns by 2022.
The transaction is likely to finalize early next year, pending regulatory approvals. GN Store Nord’s hearing aid unit’s revenue growth target for 2021 was trimmed to roughly 16 percent from 25 percent on Tuesday, citing delayed product introductions as a reason, sending its stock down.
