All News briefs articles – Page 2
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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 briefs
Two changes at Essilux’s North American wholesale
EssilorLuxottica has shifted Ernesto Diaz to Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for its wholesale operations (Professional Solutions) in North America and Laurie McDonald to Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer for North America’s sport, premium sun and e-commerce channels, according to Vision Monday. Diaz has been with ...
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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 briefsZeiss honors two physicists
Zeiss has bestowed its Research Award on Dr. Jelena Vučković, professor of electrical engineering and head of the Nanoscale and Quantum Photonics (NQP) Lab at Stanford University, and Dr. Yuri Kivshar, founder and head of the Nonlinear Physics Centre at the Australian National University (ANU). Vučković has been working to ...
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News briefsJins nine-month revenue up 18%
Jins Holdings has reported a rise of 18.0 percent in net sales to 69.8 billion Japanese yen (€407m) for the nine months ended on May 31. Domestic sales climbed 20.2 percent to ¥54.3 billion (€316m) and overseas sales climbed 10.9 percent to ¥15.5 billion (€90.6m). As in H1, domestic business ...
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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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News briefs
Safilens initial research shows 85% myopia progression reduction for Delivery Tyro
Safilens has announced the publication of a peer-reviewed article in the Opthalmology and Therapy international scientific journal about the results of a research study on its Delivery Tyro daily disposable contact lenses. The research was conducted for a 12-month period with 241 myopic children aged 14.7 years on average, in ...
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News briefs
US private equity fund acquires Uvex Group
Warburg Pincus, a US-based global private equity fund, is taking a majority stake in Uvex Group, the German-based company specializing in protective safety and sports equipment. The Winter and Grau families owning Uvex Group until now will retain a significant minority stake in the business, Warburg Pincus announced. The investment ...
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News briefs
Mia Burton merges with Lipari
Italian eyewear e-commerce company Mia Burton and the Italian optical retailer Lipari announced they were merging to create an omnichannel group with forecast revenues of €23.7 million in 2025. Lipari was founded by Giuseppe Lipari in 1974 and currently has three physical stores, two in Palermo and one in Milan, ...
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News briefs
New MD at eyes+more for Germany and Austria
Eyes + more, a subsidiary of the nexeye optical retail group, has announced the appointment of Björn Wecker as its new managing director for Germany and Austria. Wecker joins the company from POLO Motorrad und Sportswear (sport gear and apparel) where he served as retail director since 2024. His previous ...
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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
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
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 ...
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News briefs
Safilo adds Victoria Beckham to license portfolio
Safilo Group has announced the signing of a new ten-year eyewear license agreement with Victoria Beckham. The partnership includes the design, manufacture and global distribution of Victoria Beckham-branded women optical frames and sunglasses until 2035. The brand was previously licensed to Marchon Eyewear. Originally a member of British pop ...
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News briefs
Swiss-Benelux merger in the contact lens e-commerce market
Two European contact lens e-commerce companies, Vision Group and LensOnline, are merging into Vision Group Holdings (VGH), a new entity that will “create a unified platform serving millions across multiple European markets,” they have announced. While both companies operate contact lens online shops, their profiles differ in the sense that ...
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News briefs
Afflelou Group launches new banner
Afflelou Group is launching Magic Afflelou, a new retail banner focusing on its Magic private label collection of eyeglasses and sunglasses with interchangeable clip-on fronts. The retail group has opened two stores in France (Nevers and Paris) and more openings are planned in the country and in Spain. According to ...
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News briefs
EssilorLuxottica among TIME 100 most influential companies
EssilorLuxottica was selected by TIME magazine as one of the hundred most influential companies in 2025. The eyewear industry behemoth was included in the “Innovators” list, one of five categories in TIME’s annual ranking along with “Disrupters,” “Leaders,” “Titans” and “Pioneers.” EssilorLuxottica’s inclusion in the list primarily owes to ...
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News briefs
Safilo keeps buying own shares for “future investment opportunities”
Safilo Group has appointed Keppler Chevreux as broker to implement its latest share buy-back program, which was approved by shareholders a few weeks ago. As reported then, a maximum of 15 million shares, or 3.6 percent of the outstanding shares, and a maximum cash amount of €18 million have been ...
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News briefs
TPG announces two further acquisitions in Germany
The Platform Group (TPG) has completed the previously announced acquisition of a 50.1 percent stake in Beste Aussichten and Karrasch & Nolten, two German optical retail groups totaling 30 stores, and has also announced the acquisition of Freudenhaus Optik Handels, a premium optical retailer with two locations in Munich, and ...
