All Corporate articles – Page 3
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News briefs
Mondottica takes full control of German distribution following Menrad’s bankruptcy
As was widely expected, Mondottica Group has acquired the 50 percent share held by its longtime partner MENRAD in Mondottica Deutschland, their distribution joint venture established in 2014. PLUTA Rechtanwalts, the insolvency administrator has also announced that Menrad do Brasil Comercio de Produtos Opticos, the group’s subsidiary in ...
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News briefs
Wagner + Kühner is closing its operations
Wagner + Kühner, a German eyewear company founded in 1945, will cease its activity later this month, the company has announced in a letter to its customers according to DOZ Verlag. As we reported then, the streamlining of the company’s operations enabled it to pursue its business after insolvency proceedings ...
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News briefs
Reshuffle at Carl Zeiss AG executive board
Dr. Jochen Peter, responsible for the ZEISS Industrial Quality & Research (IQR) segment, will step down at this own request from the executive board of Carl Zeiss AG on Sept. 30, 2025, the company has announced. He will be replaced by Dr. Marc Wawerla, currently Head of the ZEISS Industrial ...
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Article“It seems the industry is ripe for change,” Flō Optics CEO
Things went relatively fast for Flō Optics. Only 15 months after the Israeli-based startup first showcased its optical coatings 3D printing technology at Vision Expo West in November 2023, it announced a $35 million Series A funding round, including from several eyewear industry players. However, when we sat down with ...
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ArticleFielmann enters new HQ on a strong footing
Fielmann Group has confirmed that its consolidated sales for the first half of 2025 increased by 12.3 percent to €1,224 million, in line with the preliminary results announced in July together with the company’s 2030 strategic plan. We focus in this article on the new financial information released by the ...
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ArticleEssilux ups stake in Nikon again, but further steps will require Japan’s green light
Bis repetita, but with a stronger magnitude this time. On Oct. 7 last year, Nikon’s stock value jumped by 8 percent as it emerged from an official filing at a regional finance bureau that EssilorLuxottica had increased its stake in the Japanese group to 5.10 percent. Yesterday (Aug. 27), it ...
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ArticleUS tele-optometry kiosks startup gets $20m cash injection
Eyebot, the US company developing a platform combining self-service vision test kiosks with remote eye doctor prescriptions, has announced that it has raised $20 million in Series A funding, with global private equity fund General Catalyst as the round leader. AlleyCorp, Bauskunst, Village Global and Ubiquity Investors, all returning investors, ...
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ArticleA closer look under Lenskart’s hood
As we reported at the end of July, India-based Lenskart’s long-rumored IPO is now well on track as the Indian retail group filed its so-called red herring prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Bord of India (SEBI). While we have mostly relied on unofficial information and leaks to the Indian ...
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News briefs
Specsavers to invest £5m in UK lab to support growing domestic sales
Specsavers has announced that it will invest £5 million (€5.8m) in its Vision Labs lens production unit in Worcestershire, UK. The two-year investment plan is aimed at increasing production capacity from 140,000 to over 200,000 lenses per week and upgrading the site’s environmental performance through reduced water and increased electricity ...
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ArticleLenskart files for IPO, acquires a Spanish DTC sunglass brand
Lenskart’s long-rumored initial public offering (IPO) is one big step closer to becoming a reality as the Indian-based optical retailer group has just filed its so-called draft red herring prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The 761-page document is now available on the group’s corporate website. ...
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News briefsTopcon investing in vision measurement app company
Topcon Healthcare is investing in Okko Health, company in the UK that develops home-monitoring smartphone apps for vision measurement. As the company itself puts it, Okko embeds the “deep vision science behind simple games on smartphones and tablets,” yielding applications for clinical practice, research and the development of drugs and ...
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News briefsThélios inaugurates new Italian production site for metalworking
Thélios, the eyewear division of LVMH, has inaugurated a 20,000 square meter production site dedicated to metal processing for eyewear on the site of the former Safilo factory in Longarone, Italy, that it acquired in 2023. Veneto Region’s Councillor, Valeria Mantovan, and the President of LVMH Italy, Toni Belloni were ...
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News briefsArkema adding transparent-polyamide capacity in Singapore
At the factory in Singapore it inaugurated in 2022 – reputedly the world’s largest for bio-circular materials – Arkema is building a unit for the manufacture of its Rilsan Clear transparent polyamide, used for consumer electronics, appliance and medical equipment as well as eyewear. Representing an investment of about $20 ...
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News briefsXpanceo raises a quarter billion
Xpanceo – a company we spoke with in June, and which has been exploring ways to put the tech of smart glasses into contact lenses – has raised $250 million in Series A funds, at a valuation of $1.35 billion. Leading the funding round was Opportunity Venture (Asia), with offices ...
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News briefs
Certottica posts revenues of €5.3 million, names new board
Certottica Group, the Italian eyewear and optical product certification body majority-owned by the Italian eyewear association ANFAO, said it posted revenues of about €5.3 million in 2024, while its Ebitda came in at 12 percent of the top line. The group’s net assets grew to €4.8 million from about €3.3 ...
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ArticleMeta takes 3% share in Essilux – with more to come?
What seemed like an only-a-matter-of-time thing since July last year is now a done deal, according to Bloomberg. Meta has acquired a minority stake in EssilorLuxottica, its smart glasses partner. “People familiar with the matter” told the US financial news outlet that the US tech giant had invested around €3 ...
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ArticleBrand building, distribution and portfolio expansion keep Izipizi in the fast lane
Double-digit revenue growth is a common feature of many startups in their very early years, but, as businesses scale up, the fast pace naturally becomes harder to sustain. However, some achieve to keep the double-digit momentum going well into their teenage years. IZIPIZI, the French-based company “doing everyday glasses that ...
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News briefs
Founder family increase stake in Afflelou to 38%
The family of Alain Afflelou, founder of AFFLELOU, is increasing its share in the group from 29 percent to 38 percent following two separate financial operations. Lion Capital remains the controlling shareholder of the company with a 62 percent stake. In detail, AFFLELOU has placed €50 million in ...
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News briefs
Bausch + Lomb completes bond issuance and partial refinancing of its debt
Bausch + Lomb confirmed last week the successful completion of the refinancing plans announced a few days before. The contact lens and eye care group said that its Bausch+Lomb Netherlands B.V. and Bausch & Lomb Incorporated subsidiaries have closed the offering of $675 million senior secured floating rate notes maturing ...
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News briefs
SDC Technologies among investors in flō Optics
SDC Technologies, the specialty coatings subsidiary of Mitsui Chemicals, announced yesterday that is was one of the industry companies that invested earlier this year in flō Optics, an Israel-based startup specializing in the additive manufacturing of lens coatings. As reported then, the $35 million financing round was led by “leading ...
