All Article articles – Page 104
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Hoya will be more aggressive in M&A
Hoya Corporation continues to pursue acquisition opportunities in the area of eyeglass lenses and contact lenses. In commenting on the relatively good financial results for the first quarter ended June 30, Hiroshi Suzuki, chief executive of the Japanese group, said that it is considering a “somewhat more aggressive approach” in ...
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Alcon to license Google’s smart lens technology for medical uses
Alcon, the eye care unit of Novartis, that owns Ciba Vision, has announced it has struck an agreement with Google[x] to license its smart lens technology for all ocular medical uses. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction remains subject to anti-trust approvals. Google[x] is the team ...
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Valeant extends its takeover bid for Allergan
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International has extended the expiration of its $51 billion offer to take over Allergan from Aug. 15 to the end of this year, without any new changes in the new improved conditions laid out on June 2. It made the announcement after receiving pledges from Allergan shareholders that ...
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Vision Council study analyzes European vision correction trends
French adults are the biggest users of any kind of vision correction in Europe, according to the first VisionWatch Europe survey commissioned by the Vision Council, which was conducted among consumers in the five major European countries to check consumption trends during the 12-month period ended last March.According to the ...
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Solaris merges with Avanzi in Italy
GrandVision has reportedly decided to integrate its two Italian chains, Ottica Avanzi and Solaris. In contrast with Avanzi, whose big stores sell all kinds of eyewear, Solaris stores only sell sunglasses. Avanzi is an Italian chain of high-end stores that was acquired by the Hal group via Pearle Europe in ...
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Big demand for vinyl eyewear from Hungary
Between 75 and 90 billion vinyl records were pressed between 1975 and 1990. The vinyl market collapsed with the advent of the cassette tape and the compact disc. None were sold after 1993. As a result, billions of vinyl records are sitting in people's homes and in the warehouses of ...
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Big drop in Spy’s sales
Spy has reported an 18.1 percent drop in its consolidated sales to $8.2 million for the second quarter ended June 30 as compared to a year ago, and attributed the drop mainly to a 22.3 percent decline in its sales of sunglasses, down to $6.6 million. Pointing out that it ...
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Small increase in U.S. optical business rating in July
The overall rating of the U.S. optical business environment was 3.77 in July, a very slight increase from the June rating of 3.76, according to the Optical Business Barometer (OBB) compiled by Jobson Optical Research. The July 2014 rating also shows an increase from the July 2013 rating of 3.63, ...
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Safilo reaches deal on layoffs at Italian plants
Safilo has reached an agreement with the unions that will lead to about 100 job losses at its Italian plants in Longarone and Santa Maria di Sala. The two factories will return to normal working levels as a 24-month solidarity contract, or a time-sharing deal, expires on Aug. 31. The ...
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Silmo launches Silmo Istanbul
The agency that organized the new Istanbul Optik Fuari (ISOF) fair last December, 24 Saat Fuarilik, which also runs a local trade magazine, has rebranded it as Silmo Istanbul as part of a strategic alliance with the organizers of the Silmo fair in Paris. Their stated goal is to turn ...
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Essilor targets sales of €8 billion by 2018
Keeping its annual compound growth rate above 10 percent, including the effect of acquisitions, Essilor sees it annual revenues rising from €5.1 billion last year to a new target of €8.2 billion, with 40 percent of the growth coming from stronger expansion in the sunwear segment and in online retailing. ...
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Italian exports up by 9.5% in the quarter
While the domestic market is not looking any better – in 2013 it dropped by a further 2.3 percent – Italy's eyewear exports have confirmed the positive performance of the previous year, when they had risen by 7.2 percent, with a particularly good score in the final quarter. In the ...
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Europa International acquires Frieze Frames and Anvi Frieze
Europa International has announced the acquisition of two brands of U.S.-made eyewear, Frieze Frames and Anvi Frieze. The purchase includes Full Spectrum Global and American Eyes Manufacturing, the California-based companies which owned the two brands, and these will be combined to form a new entity, Independent Eyewear Manufacturing (IEM).IEM will ...
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Valeant improves its offer for Allergan
After turning down previous unsolicited takeover offers by Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Allergan's board of directors has agreed to review a new proposal by the Canadian company which is due to expire on Aug. 15. The new offer would give Allergan's shareholders 0.83 Valeant shares and $72 in cash for each share ...
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Gatto Astucci goes back to its original owners
The De Silvestro family is back in control of Gatto Astucci, Italy's second-largest firm for eyewear cases after Fedon. Sviluppo Impresa, a private equity fund run by Centrobanca Sgr, which took a majority stake in Gatto at the end of 2006, has failed in its attempt to develop the company's ...
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CVI outperforms less than before
CooperVision continued to gain market share in the first three months of this year, but did so less than before. While the global market for soft contact lenses grew by an estimated 8 percent to $1,915 during the period, according to the Contact Lens Institute, CVI raised its sales by ...
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Three designer brands join forces
The multi-brand concept in the eyewear sector does not have to be exclusively reserved to big conglomerates such as Luxottica, Safilo, Marchon, Marcolin or De Rigo. This business model can even be more effective when it comes to small designer brands, which generally have too small a turnover to cover ...
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The U.S. optical business improved in May
The overall rating of the U.S. optical business environment showed a slight increase in May, up to a rating of 3.73 as compared to rating of 3.70 in April, according to the Optical Business Barometer (OBB) compiled by Jobson Optical Research. The rating also improved against a May 2013 rating ...
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Cooper Companies to buy Sauflon
Sauflon Pharmaceuticals recently denied a rumor that Essilor, which had already looked at Ciba Vision in the past, was about to purchase it. A few days ago, Cooper Companies, parent of CooperVision, reported a definitive agreement to buy Sauflon for about £700,000 or around £1.2 billion. Commenting on the deal, ...
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New U.K. manager, partnerships and services at Cecop
Cecop has announced the appointment of Lee Woodward as sales director for the U.K. market, where the international Spanish-based buying group has almost doubled its presence over the past three years. His appointment follows the resignation of Cecop's former local country manager, Dominique Gastaldi, who left a few weeks ago ...
