All Corporate articles – Page 4
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ArticleHakim Group gets more private equity support
Hakim Group, a leading player in the UK and Ireland’s optical distribution channel, has announced that ICG, a global private equity firm with over $110 billion in managed assets, was joining the business as an additional investment partner. The raised funds, the amount of which was not disclosed, will support ...
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ArticleGoogle kicks off smart glasses platform with multiple eyewear partnerships, including investment in Warby Parker
“As you know, we have been building glasses for over ten years. And we have never stopped,” said Shahram Izadi, Vice President and General Manager of Google’s Android XR unit, at the group’s I/O developers conference yesterday before opening its smart glasses presentation. The introductory remark was probably meant to ...
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News briefsTopcon invests in Eye-Go
Topcon Healthcare has invested in a Danish medical-tech company called Eye-Go and is helping it to develop a product called MistGo Digital, to be incorporated into Topcon’s Harmony digital health platform. Neither company has disclosed any figures. Source: Eye-Go Eye-Go’s MistGo device. The original MistGo is a ...
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ArticleInspecs Group rejects shareholder proposal to replace Robin Totterman as company director
In a regulatory news update, Inspecs Group announced yesterday that it has received a requisition notice by Downing, a private equity firm and its third largest shareholder, requesting a shareholders vote on the removal of Robin Totterman as a director of the company as well as the appointment of Rocco ...
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ArticleEssilorLuxottica to increase its lens capacity in France by 40% with new industrial site
French President Emmanuel Macron inaugurated yesterday EssilorLuxottica’s Excellence Rx Laboratory, or Labex according to the group’s terminology, a new industrial facility located in Wissous, in the suburbs of Paris and close to the company’s Innovation & Technology Center in Créteil. EssilorLuxottica stressed that the laboratory, which spreads over 16,000 square ...
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ArticleEssilorLuxottica to turn eyewear into a service platform and frames into ‘wearables real estate,’ shareholders hear
In the company’s annual shareholders meeting, Chairman and CEO Francisco Milleri detailed how Essilux is progressively shifting from a hardware-oriented to a service-oriented business centered on AI and medtech. More acquisitions in the AI, chips design and eye surgery sectors are into the group’s deals pipe for 2025 and 2026. The company is taking a cautious approach to US tariffs supply chain adjustments.
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ArticleAmazon-backed autofocus glasses startup raises $36m, aims for distribution in the ECP channel
The raised capital will enable IXI to continue its product development and to kickoff its commercial operations. The strategy is to distribute primarily through the optical retail channel. The company is looking to disrupt the market with its technology aimed at replacing progressive lenses.
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News briefs
Safilo pursues share buy-back program with future investments in mind
Along with the approval by its shareholders of its financial statements as of Dec. 31, 2024, Safilo Group has announced that the shareholders of its Safilo SpA subsidiary have authorized the purchase and disposal of up to 15 million ordinary shares, corresponding to approximately 3.6 percent of the company’s outstanding ...
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ArticleAntitrust suit threatens Meta’s revenues, perhaps R&D
After more than four years, the US FTC has gotten Meta into court.
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News briefs
Innovative Eyewear eyes European market, exercises warrants for $1.8m proceeds
Innovative Eyewear has announced its intention to appoint a European distributor for its Lucyd Armor smart safety glasses, which have obtained the EU EN 166:2002 safety certification for workplace use. The company plans to enhance its Lucyd Armor range with sunglass and prescription versions later this year. It has also ...
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News briefs
Essilux’ number of shareholding employees keeps rising
EssilorLuxottica has announced that its number of shareholding employees rose to 97,000 in 2024 from 83,500 in the previous year following record-breaking investments in the group’s international shareholding plan and the French PPE that respectively raised €190 million and €33 million. The number of employees who joined Valoptec, the association ...
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ArticleMenrad Germany files for insolvency
Menrad Group has announced that Ferdinand Menrad GmbH, its German entity, has entered insolvency proceedings due to an expected future liquidity bottleneck. The insolvency proceedings only concern the German legal entity of the group. Its subsidiaries in Austria, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the UK, Italy, Poland, Turkey and Brazil, as ...
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News briefs
1-800 Contacts launches prescription glasses online shop
1-800 Contacts, the leading US e-commerce player in the contact lens segment, has announced its entry into the prescription glasses market with the launch of The Framery, an online shop that “gives everyone access to premium frames without the designer markup,” the company says. Prescription frames available on the website ...
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News briefs
Bausch Health announces debt refinancing plans
Bausch Health has announced that it is starting a $4 billion offering of new senior secured notes due 2032 and that it also plans to establish new senior credit facilities for at least $3.8 billion. These initiatives are aimed at refinancing the pharmaceutical group’s $21 billion debt, of which approximately ...
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ArticleVisottica forges close-knit relations with customers and expands into new industries
Rinaldo Montalban, Chairman, discusses the consolidation of the group’s production activities in Italy, its plans for a new factory in Thailand, its sustainability initiatives and the increasing personalization of eyewear components, among other topics.
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News briefs
Rodenstock to close Optovision plant
Rodenstock Group announced on Friday last week that it would be terminating the production of lenses at its Optovision unit in Langen, Germany, and relocating it “primarily”’ to its largest and most modern production site in Klattau, Czech Republic. The announcement follows six months after a similar one concerning the ...
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ArticleElectronics blue light specialist steps into eyewear, aims to establish new standards
Partnering with global consumer electronics brands such as Dell, HP or Samsung, Eyesafe has focused until now on devices for its blue light products. The company is now entering the eyewear market in the US with a wholesale and direct-to-consumer approach.
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News briefs
Indian grapevine abuzz with $10bn valuation for Lenskart ahead of rumored IPO
Lenskart has long been rumored to be considering an initial public offering (IPO) to further accelerate its development. While the group has not made an offical announcement yet, several Indian business news outlets have reported that the India-based optical retailer was preparing to file its IPO draft papers in May ...
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News briefsPrats to open factory in Colombia
Prats, the Spanish producer of ophthalmic lenses, will be opening a factory in Colombia over the course of this year, according to the Spanish trade paper Moda en Gafas (MeG). Production and R&D Director Jorge Ramírez has told MeG that the group’s investment in the site amounts to €16 million. ...
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News briefs
Tokai opens new plant in the UAE
TOKAI OPTICAL has announced the completion of a new factory, TOKAI OPTICAL MEA (FZC), located in the Sharjah Airport International Free Zone (SAIF) in the United Arab Emirates. The new production facility, a joint project with Tokai Optecs, the group’s Belgian-based joint venture, is aimed at expanding the Japanese-based lens ...
