All Corporate articles – Page 12
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ArticleSpecsavers owners place company in family trust
Specsavers’ owners and co-founders Dame Mary Perkins and her husband Doug have announced that they had placed the company in a family trust in order to protect it from a potential acquisition by private equity funds in the future. “We are coming up to our 80th birthdays so we have ...
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ArticleFielmann expands Spanish business with new acquisition
The Fielmann Group is strengthening its presence in the Spanish market through the full acquisition of the retail, wholesale and manufacturing businesses of MFI Group, a leading optical and hearing-aid supplier in northern Spain. The transaction will be completed on Dec. 31, 2022. The investment comes after the takeover in ...
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News briefs
Horizons Optical opens new and larger headquarters
Horizons Optical, the Spanish-based supplier of lens designs, coatings and services, is moving its offices to a new location in Sant Cugat del Vallés, near Barcelona, trebling the surface of its headquarters. The new offices have a capacity of 80 employees,and include a showroom, an R&D laboratory and a space ...
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ArticleWarby Parker details strategy at Morgan Stanley conference
Warby Parker, represented by its co-founder and co-CEO Dave Gilboa, participated earlier this week in Morgan Stanley Global Consumer & Retail Conference, during which the company detailed some elements of its current business and replied to questions on its future strategy, including on ways to achieve profitability. The U.S. omnichannel ...
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ArticleOptiswiss maintains focus on ECPs, innovation and premium products
In an interview with Eyewear Intelligence, Samuel Frei, CEO of Optiswiss, sheds light on how the Swiss-based independent lens maker navigates an increasingly consolidated optical market with a strategy based on a focus on premium products, distribution through independent eyecare professionals (ECPs), state-of-the-art production facilities, investment in new technologies and ...
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ArticleMarcolin to invest $250 m in TOM FORD perpetual license
The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) have announced the acquisition of the TOM FORD in a deal that values the luxury brand at $2.8 billion and also involves the Ermenegildo Zegna Group and Marcolin through long-term license agreements, for fashion products and eyewear products, respectively. The transaction is expected to close ...
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ArticleMorel puts focus on direct distribution, brand heritage and CSR
In an interview with Eyewear Intelligence, Amélie Morel, communication director of Morel Lunettes, explained how the family-owned company has taken advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to accelerate the transformation of its international business, and has reinforced its focus on the brand’s heritage as well as its CSR commitments. A member ...
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ArticleSkugga to launch new financing rounds to accelerate development
In the wake of Skugga’s recent Silmo d’Or award in the technological innovation and connected products’ category, we spoke with Mikael Eriksson, the Swedish-based company’s CEO and one of the main shareholders along with his brothers Daniel Eriksson, Jonas Eriksson and partner Fredrik Hanson. The brothers initially started off with ...
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News briefsCooperVision to make toric mutifocal contacts in the U.S.
CooperVision has added Biofinity toric multifocal contact lenses to the list of products it makes to order at its factory in Scottsville, New York. Within the next few months all lens six-packs destined for the U.S. and Canada will be turned out there, so as to cut out international shipping ...
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News briefs
Topcon explains mid-term growth strategy
In its annual report, eye care equipment maker Topcon, said that it has identified its screening business and its China business as the two main mid-term growth drivers. In the screening business, the company is expecting continuous growth for screening and tele-optometry devices from Europe and the U.S. for the ...
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ArticleBacked by private equity fund, Cosium eyes international expansion
CAPZA, a European private investment fund with €7.4 billion of assets, announced in September the acquisition of a minority stake in NeoX, a newly created entity bringing together a number of tech companies in the medical field, in particular suppliers of practice management software. NeoX was formed around Cosium, the ...
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News briefsSafilo signs new credit line to pay back debt, support growth
Safilo Group has signed a financing agreement for €300 million with maturity in September 2027. It consists of a term loan facility of €150 million, a revolving credit facility of €75 million and a capex line of €75 million. The term loan, set for Sept. 29 of this year, will ...
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News briefs
EssilorLuxottica launches 3rd share buyback plan in 2022
EssilorLuxottica has announced the launch of a new share buyback program, the third since the start of this year. The group has granted a mandate to an investment service provider for the purchase of up to 1,500,000 of its own shares, or 0.3 percent of total outstanding shares, by March ...
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News briefs
J.F. REY sales up double-digit since takeover
Maison JEAN-FRANÇOIS REY has announced that, since the change of ownership a year ago, the company’s sales have been growing at double-digit rate from the €14 million base reported for 2021. As reported last year, the Marseilles-based eyewear company is in the hands of a Franco-German trio consisting of Walter ...
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News briefs
New owners for WestGroupe
Canadian healthcare organization Fyi Health Group has announced that it was acquiring WestGroupe, the Montreal-based eyewear manufacturer and distributor. Fyi is active in the eyecare and medical aesthetics’ sectors. The group operates the Fyidoctors eye clinics in Canada and the U.S. as well as other smaller optometry and optical retail ...
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ArticleJimmy Fairly to boost retail network, enter 3 new countries
Jimmy Fairly, the French-based and vertically integrated eyewear brand, has announced plans to more than double its number of stores in France and the U.K. by 2025 and to enter three new European countries in the coming months. Founded in 2011 by two young French entrepreneurs, Antonin Chartier and Sacha ...
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News briefs
Visottica issues a €5m bond
Visottica Group, the Italian-based supplier of eyewear components, has issued a €5 million bond to support its future growth and investments, the company announced at the end of August. The emitted bond was placed by the Intesa Sanpaolo bank and will mature in 2029. Giovanni Montalban, CEO of Visottica, stressed ...
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ArticleMaterialise sees its eyewear volumes triple within 5 years
Created in 2014, the eyewear division of Materialise, the Belgian-based 3D printing specialist, has introduced several innovations for 3D-printed glasses and has established itself as the market leader in the field. Ahead of the Silmo trade show, we sat down with Alireza Parandian, the unit’s manager, to reflect on the ...
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ArticleFielmann invests €65 m in high-tech facility in Czech Republic
The Fielmann Group announced a €65 million investment for a new high-tech eyewear manufacturing and logistics facility in Chomutov in the Czech Republic to support its European growth efforts. The company said that it would produce customised, refined prescription lenses at the new site and mount them into frames sourced ...
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News briefsSynsam returns production to Sweden
Synsam has opened what it calls the first large-scale factory for eyewear frames in the Nordics. The Production and Innovation Center results from the group’s decision in 2020 to shift production from China back to Sweden. To achieve this objective it has refurbished the air flotilla’s Hangar 90 at Frösö ...
