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History

AudioNova's history dates back to 1926 when Mr. Schoonenberg established his first optic, photographic and hearing aids store in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. After his retirement, his son inherited the business and expanded it to 23 stores.

In 1985 Groeneveld Winkelbedrijven (Groeneveld) took over Schoonenberg. Groeneveld was an optical retail company with 100 shops throughout the Netherlands, 20 of which had a hearing aid department.
In 2000 Groeneveld was sold to HAL Investments. By then Schoonenberg hearing aid activities had a turnover of 17 million euros from 35 specialized shops and 34 optical stores with a hearing aid shop-in-shop.

Between 2000 and 2006 Schoonenberg sales increased to more than 70 million EUR thanks to organic growth, new store openings and acquisitions. In 2006, after a successful buy-and-build strategy in the Netherlands, AudioNova International was incorporated to support international expansion.

During 2006 international activities were focused primarily in Germany and Belgium. In 2007 AudioNova International continued to grow through the entrance in France, Denmark and Italy. In 2008 Portugal was added to this list with the acquisition MiniSom.

In 2010 AudioNova expanded into Switzerland, Poland, Russia and Hungary by the acquisition of GEERS Hörakustik.

Today AudioNova International is a leading player in Europe. HAL Investments is the shareholder of AudioNova with a long-term investment strategy and fully supports the expansion strategy and is committed to financing further growth.