Roger Radke, PhD

Frankfurt, Germany — A series of recent Reuters articles pointed to Siemens AG pulling out of its hearing aid unit sale and instead making the investment in strengthening its competitive position in the sector via the development of its own dealership network.

Sources told the news agency that such an about-face was due to the more than half-billion euro difference between the company’s minimum asking price of 2 billion euros ($2.73 billion USD) and bidders’ offers.

Siemens AG has named Roger Radke as the new executive in charge of Siemens Audiologische Technik (SAT), a business unit in Siemens’ health care sector, and it appears that is the course the company plans to take.

"The sector expects this appointment to further strengthen its global hearing instrument activities, particularly since Radke boasts wide-ranging experience and an excellent network in the industry due to his previous management position in Siemens’ audiology area," Siemens said in a statement.

From 2000 to 2004, Radke was head of SAT, which is headquartered in Erlangen, Germany, before being named CEO of Siemens Water Technologies in Warrendale, Pa. The current CEO of SAT, Stefan Schaller, will assume new responsibilities within Siemens, according to the company.

[Sources: Reuters news articles, and Siemens AG]