All M&A articles
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ArticleInspecs takeover talks extended with current highest bid at £85m
Private equity seems to have an edge in the negotiations but Safilo is reviewing its options. The UK-based eyewear group has also announced a trading update that forecasts a 4 percent decline in annual revenue.
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ArticleParis Miki main stakeholder to delist the company through an MBO
The tender offer by the founding family fund values the company at approximately 33 billion yen (€182m). The plan is to restructure the retailer’s domestic and overseas businesses after a decade of revenue stagnation and low or negative profit margins.
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ArticleAlcon Q3 CL sales grow 6%, sees STAAR deal as attractive but not essential
Alcon generated $707 million in contact lens sales in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, up by 6 percent compared to the year earlier, as growth was driven by product innovation and price increases, partially offset by declines in legacy products. At constant-currency rates, sales were up by 5 percent. ...
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Alcon and STAAR Surgical amend merger agreement
STAAR Surgical has announced the amendment of its agreement for its acquisition by Alcon, which has been criticized by Broadwood Partners and other shareholders in the California-based refractive surgery company since the initial announcement in August. Among other things, the new agreement allows STAAR Surgical to solicit other third-party bids ...
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ArticleInvestor pressures Inspecs for sum-of-the-parts deal
First Seagull, a Norwegian investor holding a 5.5 percent stake in Inspecs Group, is pressing the UK-based eyewear group to prioritize a sum-of-the-parts divestment of its business in a letter sent to the company’s board on Oct. 24. The move follows the announcement by Inspecs last week that it had ...
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ArticlePrivate equity firms look at Inspecs takeover, Safilo too but only for some assets
Inspecs Group confirmed yesterday press reports about two separate unsolicited proposals from private equity firms, “each setting out non-binding possible cash offers alongside the possibility of an alternative offer including unlisted securities to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Inspecs.” Inspecs stock price takes off ...
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Topcon acquires Toku
Topcon Healthcare is adding one more brick to its Healthcare from the Eye program with the acquisition of Toku, a San Diego-based AI health-tech company that originated in New Zealand. Topcon, along with US retail group National Vision, already led an $8 million Series A investment round in Toku in ...
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EssilorLuxottica reinforces AI and medtech expertise with new acquisition
EssilorLuxottica announced its seventh M&A operation this year with the acquisition of Ikerian, a Swiss-based medtech startup founded in 1990 and operating under the RetinAI brand that will further reinforce the group’s medtech offering. RetinAI’s area of expertise is artificial intelligence (AI) and data management in eye care. It develops ...
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Design Eyewear Group acquires six brands from French company KNCO
Design Eyewear Group has acquired six brands from French eyewear company KNCO, marking its entry into children’s eyewear and doubling its portfolio to 20 brands in recent months.
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ArticleZEISS Vision Care invests in Fielmann-owned teleophthalmology platform
ZEISS Vision Care is taking a 10 percent stake in Ocumeda, the tele-ophthalmology platform owned by Fielmann Group, with plans to acquire up to a 25 percent stake, the company has announced. The transaction values Ocumeda at €100 million. Founded in 2019 and led by a team of ophthalmologists, Ocumeda ...
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ArticleIXI ramps up autofocus glasses supply chain
IXI, the Finnish-based start-up developing autofocus glasses, has announced two major initiatives meant to accelerate its development and prepare for the commercial launch of its product. As previously reported, the company raised $36 million from private equity firms and Amazon Alexa Fund among others earlier this year. ...
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ArticleTopcon Healthcare steps into mental health diagnosis with new investment
Topcon Healthcare is making a strategic investment in Senseye, a US-based start-up “developing the first mental health diagnostic platform powered by ocular biomarkers,” according to the official statement. “Topcon Healthcare’s investment is more than capital, it is validation from a global leader in digital health technology that the eye holds ...
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US online vision acuity tests supplier takes over European peer
Visibly, a Chicago-based healthcare technology company specializing in online visual acuity tests, has announced the acquisition of Easee, an Amsterdam-based supplier of similar services. Visibly, which says it has developed the first FDA-approved online visual acuity exam, stressed that the acquisition will enable it to expand its business with healthcare ...
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ArticleVSP Vision acquires Marcolin
VSP Vision, parent company of Marchon Eyewear, is acquiring Marcolin from PAI Partners and minority shareholders, the US vision care group announced in a statement last Friday. “The addition of Marcolin is another example of our commitment to purposeful growth that will provide greater value for VSP members, ...
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Staar Surgical’s main shareholder to vote against sale to Alcon
The acquisition of Staar Surgical, a California-based refractive surgery company that specializes in Implantable Collamer Lenses (ICLs), by Alcon is facing some headwinds. A few weeks after the official announcement, it has emerged that Broadwood Partners, the largest stakeholder in Staar Surgical with a 27.3 percent share, is opposing the ...
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ArticleZoff owner doubles doorcount to 620 with M&A deal
Intermestic, the Japanese group behind the Zoff optical retail chain, has announced the full acquisition of Visionary Holdings, the operator of Megane Super, another retail chain with 300 stores in the country. Intermestic is reportedly investing 19.1 billion Japanese yen (€110m) in the operation, which is expected to complete on ...
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Zyloware acquires Kenmark Eyewear
Zyloware, which describes itself as “the longest-running family-owned and operated eyewear company in the United States,” has announced the acquisition of Kenmark Eyewear. Founded in 1972 and based in Kentucky, Kenmark Eyewear was operating as an employee-owned business. The company’s large portfolio includes a mix of licensed brands (Vera Wang, ...
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Japanese midsized optical retail group changes hands
Kitamura Holdings, the Japanese group operating the Kitamura Camera retail chain, is branching out into eyewear retailing with the full acquisition of E2 Care Holdings. The optical retail group boasts a network of 200 optical and hearing aids stores with three chains: Vision Megane (101 stores, mostly in the Kansai ...
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Authentic Brands Group acquires Guess? IP
Authentic Brands Group (ABG) has announced the acquisition of a controlling ownership interest in “substantially all of the intellectual property of Guess?.” Practically, the US group is acquiring a 51 percent stake in a new entity that will take over Guess? intellectual property, with the remaining 49 percent owned by ...
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Alcon to acquire ICL eyewear surgery specialist for $1.5bn
Alcon has announced the acquisition of STAAR Surgical, a California-based refractive surgery company that specializes in Implantable Collamer Lenses (ICLs), a light surgery technology aimed at patients with moderate to high myopia, with or witout astigmatism. The group will purchase all outstanding shares of STAAR at a 51 percent premium ...
