The latest news and analysis on omnichannel retail and distribution changes.
Mister Spex founder and CEO steps down, former Luxottica manager takes key role
Effective July 31, 2024, Dirk Graber, founder of German-based retail group Mister Spex, is stepping down from his role as CEO of the company after the supervisory board accepted his request to be relieved from his duties. The announcement, which comes only a few months after the departure of former ...
Private equity fund about to invest in Lunettes Pour Tous
Quilvest Capital Partners, a global investment fund with over $7 billion in assets under management, is in advanced talks for the acquisition of a significant share in French-based optical retail group Lunettes Pour Tous, according to a recent article by L’Informé, a French independent business news website. This followed an ...
Double-digit growth puts Specsavers above the £4 bn annual revenue mark
Publishing its annual business review for its fiscal year ended Feb. 29, 2024, Specsavers has reported group revenue of £4.01 billion, up by 10.3 percent year-on-year at constant exchange rates. This marks a strong improvement from the previous fiscal year when sales were up by 5.6 percent. The performance also ...
Backed by new investor, Vision Group aims for more acquisitions
London-based alternative asset manager ICG has agreed to purchase a 49.4 percent stake in the leading Italian eyewear retailer Vision Group as part of a management buyout, acquiring the roughly 46 percent stake held by former private equity group backer Arcadia along with shares from other unnamed investors.
Fielmann banks on US business and vision care services for mid-term growth
The final annual results for fiscal 2023 released yesterday by Fielmann Group confirm all preliminary results announced in February, notably the double-digit increase in external sales and consolidated sales versus 2022 and a significant rebound in profitability (see table below). Please refer to our previous report for more details on ...
New owner for Nexeye retail group
Global investment firm KKR will become the new majority shareholder of Nexeye, the Dutch-based retail group operating the Hans Anders, Eyes + More and Direkt Optik chains, acquiring it from 3i, another investment fund that owned the company since 2017. The agreement is subject to regulatory approval, but it does ...
Two top-ten German optical retailers join forces to take over Edel-Optics
Optiker Bode and ROTTLER, two family-owned and historical optical retail chains respectively based in Hamburg and North Rhine-Westphalia, are joining forces to take over Edel-Optics, an online optical retail pionneer in both Germany and Europe. Founded in 2009, the company had filed for insolvency proceedings in February.
EssilorLuxottica expands retail partnership with Reliance Brands in India
EssilorLuxottica is expanding the scope ot its partnership with India’s Reliance Brands, which is taking over the development of the LensCrafters banner and the managing of its franchising network in the country. The development of the LensCrafters franchise was previously in the hands of DLF Brands and a first store ...