Alliance Boots has bought a 49 per cent stake in the David Ormerod Hearing Centres chain, which already runs 340 of its in-store hearing clinics.

The health and beauty giant said the investment illustrated a long-term partnership between the two companies and a commitment to further developing its hearing-care offering. Boots bought the stake for an undisclosed amount from Swiss healthcare group Sonova, it announced last week.

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	Alliance Boots told C+D it had not ruled out opening more practices and said it would "continue to examine opportunities" to build on its existing hearing clinics. There are 340 hearing practices in Boots stores across the UK, with 12 having opened since April 2012.

"Alliance Boots will continue to invest in its store portfolio, in the interests of [our] customers when it comes to accessibility and convenience," the company told C+D.

"Although it is too early for any specific plans, the group will continue to examine opportunities to further develop provision of hearing-care services within existing practices," Alliance Boots added. "The potential to open more practices remains, but there are no specific or definite plans to do so as yet."

The announcement came one month after Boots launched an in-store diabetes risk-assessment service as part of its strategy to support patients with long-term conditions.