All M&A articles

  • Mykita Mexico
    Article

    Thélios to invest in MYKITA

    11 November 2024

    LVMH’s eyewear unit expands its footprint in the eyewear designer segment with a minority stake in the Berlin-based eyewear designer and manufacturer. 

  • IVision Tech
    Article

    iVisionTech diversifies into auto sector with purchase of 45% stake in Molex Zetronic

    21 October 2024

    OEM eyewear maker is continuing to diversify its activities by investing in the producer of electronic components for the automotive sector. There may also be some synergies in the domain of smart glasses. 

  • 100pctOptical_Black
    Article

    100% Optical trade show changes hands

    16 October 2024

    Media 10, organizer of the 100% Optical trade show in London since 2014, has announced the sale of the event to CloserStill Media, another UK-based event organizer. CloserStill Media runs over 100 business-to-business events in and outside the UK across several sectors including business technologies, transport and infrastructure, and healthcare. ...

  • VSP Vision
    News briefs

    VSP to acquire Eyemart Express

    14 October 2024

    VSP Vision has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Eyemart Express from FFL Partners and Leonard Green & Partners. The acquisition is subject to regulatory authorization. Founded in 1990 and headquartered in Farmers Branch, Texas, Eyemart Express operates about 250 stores in 42 US states. It seeks out affiliations ...

  • News briefs

    LVMH invests in Moncler

    3 October 2024

    French luxury conglomerate LVMH, through a special purpose vehicle, has purchased a 10 percent stake in Double R, the investment vehicle controlled by Ruffini Partecipazioni Holding, which owns a direct stake in Moncler of around 15.8 percent. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Under the terms of ...

  • Magrabi DSC08262 copy-min
    Article

    New alliance in the Middle East optical retail sector

    25 September 2024

    MAGRABI Retail Group, the leading optical retailer in the Middle East region, has announced that it will take over 89 Rivoli Vision stores across the UAE, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain in what was described as a merger and an historic partnership. The alliance of the two multi-brand retailers will expand ...

  • News briefs

    Modo adds reading glasses to portfolio with new acquisition

    16 August 2024

    Italo-American eyewear group MODO is acquiring a US supplier of reading glasses, sunglasses and blue light glasses, its second M&A operation in less than one year. 

  • News briefs

    EssilorLuxottica enters Romanian retail market with new acquisition

    31 July 2024

    EssilorLuxottica has announced the full acquisition of Optical Investment Group (OIG) from private equity fund Innova Capital Group and a group of individual minority shareholders. Established in 2019, OIG directly operates 99 stores in Romania under three banners – OPTIBlu, Optiplaza and O5 – as well as e-commerce websites with ...

  • EssilorLuxottica logo
    Article

    Essilux posts solid Q2 results, answers questions on Supreme, Meta

    26 July 2024

    EssilorLuxottica has posted solid results for the first six months of 2024 with a continued mid-single-digit revenue progression in Q2, which was almost an exact duplicate of the Q1 performance, and gross and operating margin expansions. We cover the results in more detail in the second part of this article. ...

  • EssilorLuxottica logo
    Article

    Essilux mixes med-tech and streetwear in shopping basket

    17 July 2024

    “As you understood, we love our origins a lot, based on frames and lenses, but the company is now taking a slightly different direction,” said Francesco Milleri, CEO of EssilorLuxottica at the group’s shareholders’ assembly in April, replying to a question related to the potential acquisition of Marcolin. This was ...

  • iCare
    News briefs

    VSP Vision's iCare buys Miami clinic

    11 July 2024

    iCare Health Solutions has acquired Beraja Medical Group, a 35-year-old clinic in the city of Coral Gables, within Greater Miami. Beraja has three specialties: ophthalmology, surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures, and ocuplastic surgery (reconstruction of the eyelids, eyebrows, forehead and cheeks). The change will apparently be limited to ownership, as ...

  • Vision Group_GG11999_BASSA
    Article

    Backed by new investor, Vision Group aims for more acquisitions

    27 June 2024

    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. ICG will ...

  • Fielmann_USA_ENG_4c
    Article

    Fielmann more than doubles US retail footprint with new acquisition

    11 June 2024

    Fielmann Group has announced that it has agreed to acquire 100 percent equity ownership of Shopko Optical, a US optical retail chain based in Wisconsin, through Fielmann USA, its subsidiary in the country. The transaction, for which the amount was not disclosed, is expected to become effective in the third ...

  • News briefs

    iVision Tech buys 51% of Teknoema

    29 May 2024

    Italian eyewear supplier iVision Tech has acquired a 51 percent stake in Teknoema Srl, an Italian company specialized in the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) market that develops custom electronic boards and equipment, for €1.02 million. iVision Tech said the acquisition will bolster iSee, its smart glasses project for vision-impaired ...

  • News briefs

    Nexeye acquired for less than €500 million, 3i annual results show

    15 May 2024

    As reported at the end of last month, global investment firm KKR will acquire Nexeye, which runs the Hans Anders, Eyes + More and Direkt Optik retail chains, from 3i, another financial investor that owned the company since 2017. In its financial results for FY2024, ended March 31, 2024, 3i ...

  • News briefs

    EssilorLuxottica confirms but downplays interest in Marcolin

    3 May 2024

    Replying to a shareholder’s question during EssilorLuxottica’s general assembly on April 30, 2024, Francesco Milleri, CEO, confirmed that the group was part of the discussions on the take-over of Marcolin. However, he commented that the potential acquisition was not a “strategic part” for EssilorLuxottica, and not only because the group’s ...

  • News briefs

    JEH acquires factory in Fukui

    29 April 2024

    Fast-growing eyewear group Japan Eyewear Holdings (JEH) has acquired Taihou, an OEM eyewear supplier based in Sabae City, Fukui prefecture, Japan. The company said that the acquisition was aimed at boosting its production capacity. As previously reported, JEH revenue jumped by 26.3 percent year-on-year in 2023 thanks in large parts ...

  • 390601-20210414 Hans Anders Utrecht Hoog Catharijne 004-141a99-original-1620647704
    Article

    New owner for Nexeye retail group

    26 April 2024

    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 ...

  • News briefs

    EssilorLuxottica closes Washin’s acquisition

    9 April 2024

    EssilorLuxottica has officially confirmed that it closed the acquisition of Japanese retail chain Washin, on which we reported in February already, following the approval of Japanese competition authorities. The Italo-French group said that this acquisition paved the way for further investments in Japan and would provide greater insights on the ...

  • zeiss-logo-rgb
    News briefs

    Carl Zeiss Meditec acquires DORC

    5 April 2024

    Regulators having cleared the way, Carl Zeiss Meditec has finished acquiring the Dutch Ophthalmic Research Center (DORC). Negotiations began in December of last year. The seller is Eurazeo, an investment firm headquartered in Paris. The terms of the deal remain undisclosed, but Eurazeo reports the following: “The transaction has generated ...