PRESS STATEMENT
AMPLIFON GROUP: new organizational structure finalized.
The Groups new structure will be divided into Macro Regions which will be
organized on the basis of similar business models and consumer lifestyles.
Gilbert Ferraroli is appointed Market Director of Continental Europe.
The reorganization will allow the Group to maximize synergies in the different
geographic areas where it is present, thus achieving significant economies
of scale and facilitating organic growth.
Milan, June 13th, 2008 - Today Amplifon S.p.A., an Italian Group leader worldwide in the distribution and fitting of hearing aids and related services, announced its new organizational structure which will be effective as of May 2008.
More in detail, the geographic area covered by Amplifon will be divided into Macro Regions which will be organized on the basis of similar business models and consumer lifestyles within the countries where the Group operates.
Amplifon UK will remain, for the moment, unchanged insofar as it is currently involved in integration and restructuring aiming to achieve break-even at operational level within the end of 2008.
The new organization will allow, thanks to the synergies among the homogeneous areas and the ability to pool means and resources, to accelerate organic growth and achieve significant economies of scale.
The organizational structure will be the following:
The head of the Region North America, which includes the United States of America and Canada, will be Heinz Ruch;
The head of the Region Continental Europe, which includes all European markets except the United Kingdom, will be Gilbert Ferraroli. Mr. Ferraroli has been with Amplifon since 2005 as Head of the Supply Chain and brings with him significant experience in multi-national corporations like Danone and Mars where he worked in Human Resources, Marketing and Sales. His primary objectives will be to build a European organization able to share best practices, accelerate organic growth and anticipate the future scenarios in a sector undergoing great change.
The head of the UK market will be Alessandro Chiono who is currently involved in the integration and reorganization process;
The Region Rest of the World, which for the moment just includes Egypt but which will include other markets as they are developed, will be entrusted ad interim to Gilbert Ferraroli.
While the priorities for the current year will continue to be organic growth and the restructuring of Amplifon UK, the Group will continue to monitor new markets in order to evaluate possible growth options.
Toward this end Daniela Pighini, Business Development Manager, will be responsible for singling out and evaluating any opportunities which might arise in new markets that could strengthen the Groups world presence.
Finally, in order to enhance the Groups approach to the different reference markets, a Leadership team has been created of which the heads of the Region North America and Continental Europe will be permanent members along with the CEO and other staff from Headquarters including Ugo Giorcelli, Chief Financial Officer, Haluk Terzioglu, Chief Marketing Executive, Enrico Gambardella, Chief HR Executive and Enrico Bortesi, Head of the Supply Chain.
