# Optical Forums > General Optics and Eyecare Discussion Forum >  Luxottica, Essilor in 46 billion euro merger deal to create eyewear giant: Sources

## Chris Ryser

*Luxottica, Essilor in 46 billion euro merger deal to create eyewear giant: Sources*

1 Hour Ago             Reuters

Jean-Christophe Verhaegen | AFP | Getty Images
Ophthalmic lenses on display in the laboratory of an Essilor factory.

Italy's Luxottica and France's Essilor have agreed a 46-billion euro ($49 billion) merger deal to create a global powerhouse in the eyewear industry, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

The deal, one of Europe's largest cross-border tie-ups, is expected to be announced before the market opens on Monday. It brings together Luxottica, the world's top spectacles maker with brands such as Oakley and Ray Ban, with Essilor, the world's leading manufacturer of ophthalmic lenses.

The deal will see Luxottica's 81-year old founder, Leonardo Del Vecchio, take a 31 percent stake in the merged group through his family holding Delfin, becoming the biggest shareholder in the company, one of the sources said.

That source described the tie-up as a "merger of equals." Luxottica has a market value of around 24 billion euros, compared to Essilor's 22 billion euros, giving the merged group a combined market capitalization of 46 billion euros.

The two companies' combined revenues totaled nearly 16 billion euros in 2015 and together they employed some 140,000 people.

The second source said the merged group would be headquartered in Paris and listed on the Paris stock exchange.



Europe earnings at inflection point: UBS  Friday, 13 Jan 2017 | 4:07 AM ET | 02:25


The fast-growing eyewear market was valued at around $100 billion in 2015, according to U.S.-based market consulting company Grand View Research. It is expected to keep expanding at a healthy pace in coming years because of an ageing population as well as increasing awareness about eye care and vision problems, with Latin America and Asia seen as key markets for growth.
The Financial Times reported that Del Vecchio would become executive chairman of the merged group and Essilor's chairman and chief executive, Hubert Sagnieres, 60, will become executive vice-chairman.

Luxottica has been dogged by management upheaval in recent years, raising questions over Del Vecchio's succession plans and strategy. Some insiders have said a merger could help settle such issues.

Luxottica announced in January 2016 the departure of its third chief executive in 17 months when Adil Mehboob-Khan, a former Procter & Gamble executive, stepped down and Del Vecchio tightened his grip on the group by taking on executive powers.

Long-standing CEO Andrea Guerra quit in 2014 following a rift with Del Vecchio. His successor, Enrico Cavatorta, left after only six weeks into the job, also because of differences with Del Vecchio.
Through Delfin, Del Vecchio, who founded Luxottica in 1961, owns 62 percent of the group, which had revenues of 9 billion euros in 2015, according to Luxottica's website. Fashion designer Giorgio Armani has a 5 percent stake in the Italian group.

Luxottica cut its full-year outlook in July, blaming uncertain markets, as global security threats cloud the outlook for tourism and consumer spending.

The group said in September 2014 that a deal with Essilor had been explored about a year and a half earlier but was not pursued at the time because the right conditions were not in place.
Back then, it cited shareholding governance issues among the reasons why the deal had not gone ahead. In March and April last year, Luxottica denied press reports of a possible tie-up with Essilor and Germany's Carl Zeiss, saying the only relationship it had with the two groups was that they both were among its suppliers.

source: ===========>
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/15/luxo...nt-source.html

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## Chris Ryser

*It was written in the stars already a few years back and is finally happening.*

*The 2 together are out for total domination of the optical wholesale and retail market, which is the last stand that still contains most independent retail - optical owners.

*They will be a lot more active in every sector of the field, and work against protective regulations of the profession, politically and any other way, a global territory to eliminate the unwanted, and dominate the largest part of the eyeglass trade on every level. 

Once the whole deal is done and sealed we will see another tsunami of takeovers in the retail field and maybe even before then.

*This will affect everybody in the independent optical manufacturing, laboratory, wholesale and retail business, and will change the eyeglass scene forever, even more as it already has.
*

*            January 2017 a date to remember.*

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## Chris Ryser

*Monday, 16 January 2017 | MYT 11:*59 AM


*Luxottica, Essilor agree to US $53bil merger, 
FT says*

MILAN: Luxottica Group SpA, the world’s largest maker of eyewear including Ray-Bans, has agreed to merge with French rival Essilor International SA, the Financial Times reported, creating a combined company with about US$16bil in revenue.

Leonardo Del Vecchio, Luxottica’s founder, will become the single largest shareholder with a stake of about 30 percent, in a deal that values the combined companies at 50 billion euro (US$53bil), the newspaper reported, citing unidentified people with direct knowledge of the agreement. 

The deal creates a branded goods giant with a market value that rivals the second-biggest luxury maker Hermes International.

Milan-based Luxottica, which also makes frames for luxury brands such as Armani, Chanel, and Prada, has a market value of about 24 billion euros as of Jan. 13, compared with about 22 billion euros for lens maker Essilor. Luxottica is also developing voice-activated glasses that coach cyclists and runners.        


“This is a merger where they will be able to complement each other and create economies of scale on the supply chain,” said Catherine Lim, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst. 

“Luxottica is a licensee of major branded eye-wear while Essilor has been more focused on making lenses.”

Luxottica increasingly competes with large luxury players such as Kering, in a global eyewear industry worth about US$121bil last year, according to data from Euromonitor. 

The company’s expansion into lenses is attractive amid rising consumer demand and as the segment offers high margins, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

A spokeswoman for Essilor, which is working on smart glasses as well, had no comment when reached outside business hours. Luxottica representatives could not be immediately reached for comment.

Demand for eyewear is expanding in emerging markets with more than 2.3 billion people in Asia, Africa and Latin America needing optical frames, according to Exane BNP Paribas.

The two companies have been on a “collision course,” Exane said in a note in October as Luxottica moves into lens manufacturing while Essilor advances into frames and acquires control of online eyewear retailers. Lens manufacturing will be a big deal for Luxottica as it makes it independent for sun and prescription lenses, it said.

Luxottica announced last March it will seek to accelerate growth by investing more than 1.5 billion euros over three years.

Del Vecchio, Luxottica’s chairman and Italy’s second-richest person, will be executive chairman of the merged company, while Essilor chairman and chief executive Hubert Sagnieres will become executive vice chairman, the FT reported.

The deal, due to be announced before the market opens Monday, will create a company with about 130,000 employees, according to the FT report. - Bloomberg

Source:  ==============>
http://www.thestar.com.my/business/b...merger-ft-says


This is one of the biggest deals ever.


What do you say?

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## Chris Ryser

> *Luxottica Group, the worlds largest eyewear maker, and France-based rival lens maker Essilor International agreed to merge, the Financial Times reported. Bloomberg's Dave McCombs has more on "Bloomberg Markets." (Source: Bloomberg)*



The two largest aggressive optical steamrollers are now becoming one giant one, out to control and dominate the optical world from manufacturing to the retail end in every detail.

Who has supported them on their climb up the mountain ?
We all have one way or the other.

What do you say ?

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## mervinek

Not a surprise. I'm sure everyone saw this coming.

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## Lab Insight

> The two largest aggressive optical steamrollers are now becoming one giant one, out to control and dominate the optical world from manufacturing to the retail end in every detail.
> 
> Who has supported them on their climb up the mountain ?
> We all have one way or the other.
> 
> What do you say ?


IMHO, it is simply pure vertical integration while eliminating the middle layer of independents.  If there were ever a time for IND ECP's to be concerned about their long term survival, this is it.  Supply chain Co-operative ownership has never sounded so good. 

But to be honest, I think there will first be a turf war to eliminate the likes of their largest remaining competitors such as Marchon, Safilo, Hoya etc. before shifting their focus on the vulnerable ECP's.  

In the meantime, it will be interesting to watch how Hoya and company try to spin this in their favor like they are the ECP's best friend in the marketplace to gain sales.  These companies are no different given the circumstances and is all about market control these days.

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## drk

Unholy crap.

This is probably the biggest thing in optical history.

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## AngeHamm

> Unholy crap.
> 
> This is probably the biggest thing in optical history.


Yup.

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## mervinek

> Unholy crap.
> 
> This is probably the biggest thing in optical history.


and it's not a good thing.

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## drk

Hold me.

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## other_bill_fea

> Hold me.


Shh. It's okay. Don't fight it.

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## drk

Ok, let's clear our heads.

What will this allow essilux to do, that they haven't done before?

The only thing I can think of, at this point, is that the essilux retailers can have the lowest possible COGS.

As long as they stay "premium" at their brick and mortars, then we will be OK.  

But they have the power to squeeze the price point as low as they want to go, and that's what is dangerous.  But it's unlikely that they are interested in stealing the crumbs from the moms and pops.

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## drk

I think the big brick-crappers right now would be VSP.  A substantial amount of vision care in the U.S. market, at least, funnels through these pre-paid plans.  

This cannot be good for VSP.  I wouldn't be surprised to see them "de-list" essilor products, now, or even Luxottica products.  

That would be a problem.

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## drk

As to the rest of the world, I have no idea.  

Anyone have a global perspective?  Is there even a shred of free enterprise in vision care in, say, Europe?

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## Chris Ryser

> *Unholy crap.
> 
> This is probably the biggest thing in optical history.
> *





yes........................................drk


You better start  wearing your OSB (Optometric Seat Belt) at all times from now on.

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## Chris Ryser

> *I think the big brick-crappers right now would be VSP.  A substantial amount of vision care in the U.S. market, at least, funnels through these pre-paid plans.  
> 
> This cannot be good for VSP.  I wouldn't be surprised to see them "de-list" essilor products, now, or even Luxottica products.  
> 
> That would be a problem.
> *



As far as I know, is that Luxottica is als owner of some vision insurance companies.

Furthermore do not forget that in the near future Lenscrafters with their over 1,000 stores will service on-line purchased eyeglasses for no or with a fee.

They will also be the sole owners of the most on-line optical on the globe.

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## Robert Martellaro

> As to the rest of the world, I have no idea.  
> 
> Anyone have a global perspective?  Is there even a shred of free enterprise in vision care in, say, Europe?


"More than half of revenue at the combined company would come from the United States, while Europe would account for about 22 percent and 18 percent would come from Africa, Asia and the Middle East."

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/16/b...rger.html?_r=0

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## Chris Ryser

> *Ok, let's clear our heads.
> 
> What will this allow essilux to do, that they haven't done before?
> 
> But they have the power to squeeze the price point as low as they want to go, and that's what is dangerous. * *But it's unlikely that they are interested in stealing the crumbs from the moms and pops.*




It is not essilux ..........................................it is, or will be   " Sources"


.............and yes they will be stealing the crumbs from everybody, including moms and pops,

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## drk

I don't know what the situation is like in Europe.  But I'm sure that will portend what could happen here.

I would like to know how it works over there.

Are there just ophthalmologists writing Rxs and giant vertical optical corporations filling them?  I'm sure Lux has eaten all the competition over there as well.

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## Chris Ryser

> *"More than half of revenue at the combined company would come from the United States, while Europe would account for about 22 percent and 18 percent would come from Africa, Asia and the Middle East."*
> 
> https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/16/b...rger.html?_r=0



NewYork Times seems to be off again ...........................................Essilor right now is already dominating in the most populated country of INDIA.

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## Don Gilman

Time to toot my own horn. We are an INDEPENDENT supplier of finished lenses and supplies and the FastGrind in office lens processing system.
I think someone needs to make a list of the Companies owned by Essilor and Luxottica and probably a list that are not and try to support the "are nots". Actions speak louder than words.

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## drk

"Sources".

Really.  Interesting.

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## Chris Ryser

> *"Sources".
> 
> Really.  Interesting.
> *


It is a perfect word and meaning............and of top of it it is the same in French as in English.

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## Robert_S

> I don't know what the situation is like in Europe.  But I'm sure that will portend what could happen here.
> 
> I would like to know how it works over there.
> 
> Are there just ophthalmologists writing Rxs and giant vertical optical corporations filling them?  I'm sure Lux has eaten all the competition over there as well.


Can't speak for Europe in general, but in the UK the market is definitely polarising. You have those who appreciate eyecare and understand the value of what we do and then you have those who don't. My practise has been successful in recent years because we have targeted the former, and there still seem to be plenty of them. The latter inevitably go online or to the supermarket. 

Essilor have bought up most of the independent labs. Not noticed much from Luxottica except them buying more designer brands. Their only retail presence to my knowledge is in sunglasses. 

I refuse to deal with either company, haven't done for the last 5 years, and have gone from strength to strength whilst my competitors all sell the same products.

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## drk

Well, to me it's a bit of "doublespeak" or camouflage.

Maybe I'm taking it wrong, but it seems like it's saying "we are your source".

Who is the "your" in that idea?

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## Chris Ryser

> THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
> Published: January 15, 2017
> Updated: January 16, 2017 6:44 AM
> Filed Under:
> The Province > business > all
> ·                         
> ·                       
> ·                       
> PARIS - A new European eyewear giant is set to emerge as Italian frames maker Luxottica  maker of brands like Ray-Ban and Oakley  joins with French lens manufacturer Essilor in a multibillion-euro merger.
> ...



What is going to be the impact of this happening ?

We could really start spinning the wheel and guess what is going to happen to the conventional optical market in the retail as well as the wholesale in the near future.

Dozens of newspapers in Europe have posted the facts today in Europe alone and can be found on Google.

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## Essilux

Just keep this in mind.

Del Vecchio currently owns 62% of Lux.  Because of this his entire motivation is to grow the retail market and sell lux frames to IECP's.

Under the new model he would own between 31-38% but would not have controlling power over executive board.  (that would be equal between Essilor and Lux.)  Also he is older at 81 years of age so his position could soon be vacated leaving Hubert in charge as CEO/President.  

This means that instead of only having a single minded focus of growing retail and big box, which is a crucial patient need-as much as many on this forum disagree-to now having the focus on growing the whole pie.  

This deal doesn't preclude Lux from pursuing the agenda they already were on but it does provide a counter balance to that directive in the way of the IECP

_full disclosure, I've worked for Essilor and have for a number of years.  I have never worked for Lux._

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## Quince

> Just keep this in mind.
> 
> Del Vecchio currently owns 62% of Lux.  Because of this his entire motivation is to grow the retail market and sell lux frames to IECP's.
> 
> Under the new model he would own between 31-38% but would not have controlling power over executive board.  (that would be equal between Essilor and Lux.)  Also he is older at 81 years of age so his position could soon be vacated leaving Hubert in charge as CEO/President.  
> 
> This means that instead of only having a single minded focus of growing retail and big box, which is a crucial patient need-as much as many on this forum disagree-to now having the focus on growing the whole pie.  
> 
> This deal doesn't preclude Lux from pursuing the agenda they already were on but it does provide a counter balance to that directive in the way of the IECP
> ...



Sounds like Del Vecchio is looking at distributing the burden under his enormous umbrella, if I am understanding this correctly. Working for a local business run by an aging owner who hired self-sufficient managers, I can relate to the look into the near-future and gauging of worth to someone close to retirement. It would appear Del Vecchio doesn't play well with others, going by the original post, and therefore is looking for a way to hand off some of the work load without having to be too close to those delegated to.

Thanks for chiming in Essilux, and welcome to Optiboard! We talk smack about your overload- but you are a person, not your employer. Kudos to the brave  :Wink:

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## Uilleann

Think VSP will get sucked up into this hot mess next?  I mean, why not?!   :Rolleyes:

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## lensmanmd

Lux also owns EyeMed.  Davis Vision and VSP should be shaking in their Uggs about now.

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## Browman

I would fricking LOVE to be a fly on the wall at Hoya of America right now. It bet it's _hilarious._

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## lensmanmd

Not that I like Hoya either, but, yes, it would be amusing

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## lensmanmd

> I would fricking LOVE to be a fly on the wall at Hoya of America right now. It bet it's _hilarious._


 :Rolleyes:

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## Uilleann

I asked about VSP because it seems that - at least initially - there hasn't been so much as a peep about anti-trust issues and monopolies.  One wonders if adding VSP to the above train wreck would start to ring the alarm bells for someone...t least on the American front?

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## drk

VSP is a mortal enemy of those Euro dudes.  Not going to happen.

In fact, relatively tiny VSP is their only competition in the U.S.

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## Uilleann

But the gorilla sucked up EyeMed, who I believe were even smaller...

With this news, I can't imagine the discussion hasn't been had in a Lux smoke filled back room somewhere.

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## Chris Ryser

> *VSP is a mortal enemy of those Euro dudes.  Not going to happen.
> 
> **In fact, relatively tiny VSP is their only competition in the U.S.*



If you have not lost much thought of which direction the optical retail market will be  going from now on, start that thinking process going. Anything in the way of the future of this commercial venture will be eliminated sooner, than later.

Not to worry about VSP. If it will expand too much into on-line opticals they will be terminated one way or another. 

Start worrying about your own position in the optical retail market. It looks so far, that nobody has tried to see the light and made a post about it.

In danger of first loosing out, are the Ma & Pa optical retail operations, which are destined for a move into history.

There will always be a market for upscale retailers that can provide special services for the rich and famous, as well as specialised visual problems. 

 Optometrists will be needed to supply the market with refractions until this problem will be solved by automatically testing the vision to an acceptable degree.  

However they will be economically forced to let go of their selling Rx retail eyeglasses. 

You are right now witnessing the merger of the worlds two largest optical corporations, into something that only the large oil companies have managed to do. Getting rid of the Ma &Pa service stations with a pump or two, and installing convenience stores, with eight gas pumps or more.

The optical B&M retail is bound to go the same way as gas service stations, if it does not smarten up, at a super fast way, by charging similar selling prices, as the online opticals do, and add the service cost of doing the business on top of it as extras, labour etc.

There will be soon a massive take over action, on any of the well established on-line opticals, as the new corporation of joined Lux and Essilor, will be easily able to get any amount of cash needed to do these transactions.

This Optiboard thread is not one of the amusing ones, just to pass a few minutes during a quite business day in the office.


These news can actually affect any optical retail and wholesale or manufacturing business dramatically.


So be ready to put on your optical seat belts, for the rough ride coming up.

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## Chris Ryser

Looking for your comments on this important matter for all of us in every optical field.

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## optical24/7

Well, I had to step outside to see if the sun came up....It did, that means the world is still turning. ( you wouldn't think so with some of the posts here).

 Chris, we all don't have to lower our prices to internut levels just because Esilux owns most of the larger providers in that market. Do you really think they want to devalue the premium market ( and pricing) that they've worked so hard to create? ( Varilux and designer frames). Economy of scale will mean more profits, yes, but they aren't going to abandon their premium status.

 Keep in mind the internet is just another micro market in a huge, multi-billion dollar market. This company is just making sure they aren't abandoning or ignoring one of the micro markets. Lenscrapers aren't about to suddenly lower their retail pricing.

 As far as mom and pop shops..Consolidation in the medical field has been going on for the last 25-30 years, and has been accelerating. It make much more sense to partner up and share rent, staff and equipment to minimize costs. Mom and pop shops will be going away simply because it makes no sense going it alone (at least finacialy ).

This isn't the 1st time in the last 40 years to have "game changing" things happen....There has been doom and gloom advancements that was going to put all of us out of business, soft cl's ( they are so comfortable, who's gonna wanna wear glass!), IOL's ( no more cataract glasses to sell, I'm going to loose a lot of sales!), A one hour optical opened up just down the road, nobody's gonna come to me and wait a week!, Radial K, then Lasik, ( Everyone is gonna get surgical correction, no more glasses!) now this...Esilux.

 I would council Independent ECP's to concentrate on your core strengths: personalized, superior service, unique products and the ability to turn on a dime at a moments notice to adjust to an evolving market. These are things no large conglomerate can do. 

 Now then, take a deep breath, hug your teddy bear and realize the sun came up again today, and will tomorrow.

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## Tallboy

I just did some math and the average cylinder of our patients today is 2.75. Whoa.

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## JJopt

The Essilor and Luxottica merger should be a wake up call for everyone in our industry to think clearly about the next evolution of their vertical integration. They now control their own production and distribution channels. The only part of the production they do not control is production of the Rx. That will be their next focus and it will only take a few legislative changes to open that door. Does anyone think that Vision Source, PERK/IVA or any of the other groups exist for the benefit of anyone but Essilor?

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## Lab Insight

> I would fricking LOVE to be a fly on the wall at Hoya of America right now. It bet it's _hilarious._


Naturally, they're going to spin it like they are now everyone's new best friend...has happened many times already and is pretty lame.

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## Kurzsichtig

> I don't know what the situation is like in Europe.  But I'm sure that will portend what could happen here.
> 
> I would like to know how it works over there.
> 
> Are there just ophthalmologists writing Rxs and giant vertical optical corporations filling them?  I'm sure Lux has eaten all the competition over there as well.


Hi DRK, signed up just to answer you. I'm from Austria and can speak of the current situation here and in Germany.

Basically opticians can refract here as well as eye doctors. There are a few chains, None of them directly affiliated to essilor however. Luxoticca Frames sell like crazy. Essilor, zeiss and rodenstock are the biggest competitors, with honourable mentions from Seiko and hoya.

Brick and Mortar stores are well as ever.

We dont have stuff like VSPs tho, wich makes life easier.
Most big chain retail Offices have their own inscurance deals with a seperate insurance Company.

Hand crafted and alternative Frames are on the rise. Sure, Lux and Safilo take the cake, but smaller Labels fare quite well, and are really easy to get good contracts with.

greetings, looking Forward to other questions!

Edit: Internet based eyeglass purchases are rising, yet the biggest Websites still dont net profits and need substantial financial backing. I assume it will take a while in europe, because things like craftsmanship and personal bonding might run deeper traditionally.

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## Chris Ryser

> *Now then, take a deep breath, hug your teddy bear and realize the sun came up again today, and will tomorrow.
> *



Thank you optical24/7, ...........for your encouraging and calming words and do not worry post.

We all do need opposite ideas to balance a discussion of this level. All the newspapers all full with these ESSILOR-LUXOTTICA news on a world wide basis this morning.

I checked already yesterday afternoon on the internet at 4pm and there were over 400 Newspapers carrying the story on a worldwide basis. In my local newspaper the story was a full 3/4 page.

Having followed this major corporations evolvement, over the last 50 years, out of professional as well as a personal basis, i am glad that I have not started to write the intended book on it. As the unintended and not expected happenings are developing now, you can expect a lot more to come and you might not like it.  

Napoleon has resurrected and is well underway to commercial world domination in the optical field.

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## Chris Ryser

> *Hi DRK, signed up just to answer you. I'm from Austria and can speak of the current situation here and in Germany.
> 
> Basically opticians can refract here as well as eye doctors. There are a few chains, None of them directly affiliated to essilor however. Luxoticca Frames sell like crazy. Essilor, zeiss and rodenstock are the biggest competitors, with honourable mentions from Seiko and hoya.
> 
> Brick and Mortar stores are well as ever.
> *



Willkommen zum OptiBoard  .......................

Just to inform you that the North American Continent, and specially the USA, ..... were 50% of the individual States are not regulated, so anybody can be a street cleaner and open an optical shop the day after without having to learn the profession before, .......can open an opticians store and display, make and sell glasses.

This has been the perfect Essilor un-opposed playground to gain expertise on all angles of the optical business.

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## drk

> The only part of the production they do not control is production of the Rx. That will be their next focus and it will only take a few legislative changes to open that door. Does anyone think that Vision Source, PERK/IVA or any of the other groups exist for the benefit of anyone but Essilor?


I don't see how that helps them, but we'll see.

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## drk

Thank you, Kurzsichtig for giving us a view of the continent.

It doesn't sound radically different than today's marketplace.

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## drk

I have to go "all analogy" here.  Restaurants.

While our businesses are health care, there is a retail aspect for sure, so maybe restaurants apply.

I guess it's Applebee's or Outback Steakhouse or Red Lobster vs. the local restaurant.

There are some things "big corporations" just cannot do, and we'll have to do what they don't.

The problem, though, is in our world, we are "source"-ing our foodstuffs from Applebee's.  Not only that, but Luigi and Jean-Paul are in our kitchens making the food, too.

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## CNG

Will Eye-wear be included in the new healthcare plan?

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## Chris Ryser

*Merger of eyewear giants Luxottica, Essilor has a Canadian tint*

ERIC REGULY - EUROPEAN BUREAU CHIEF
ROME — The Globe and Mail
Published Monday, Jan. 16, 2017 5:51AM EST
Last updated Monday, Jan. 16, 2017 4:58PM EST


The future of the global eyewear-industry giant created Monday through the merger of Italy’s Luxottica Group, owner ofthe Ray-Ban and Oakley brands, and prescription lens maker Essilor Internationalof France, will be in the hands of a Canadian.

The blockbuster deal, which will value the new company, Essilor Luxottica, at almost €50-billion ($70-billion), makesEssilor chairman and CEO Hubert Sagnières the heir apparent to his counterpart at Luxottica, Leonardo Del Vecchio, 81, Italy’s richest man.

Mr. Sagnières, who is 61, was born in France but worked in Canada for years and has Canadian citizenship. He will run Essilor Luxottica with Mr. Del Vecchio, who has had trouble keeping outsider CEOs at Luxottica and has stated that none of his six children will succeed him. He is presumably close to retirement.

Mr. Del Vecchio will become the newcompany’s executive chairman and chief executive officer. Mr. Sagnières will become executive vice-chairman and deputy CEO. Essilor and Luxottica said the two men would share equal powers.

The new company unites the world’sbiggest eyewear frames maker and retailer with the world’s biggest lens maker.It will have €15-billion in annual sales, annual operating income of€3.5-billion, 140,000 employees and sales in 150 countries. The merger marksone of the Europe’s biggest cross-borderdeals.

In addition to addressing the succession issue at Luxottica, the merger solves a problem that could have been damaging to both companies. Luxottica was developing a lens business while Essilor was getting into frames and buying online eyewear retailers, putting the two companies on a collision course that had been highlighted by analysts. The merger eliminates the competitive threat that could have hurt both companies’profit margins.

Traditionally, lens makers and framemakers have kept their distance from one another. The Essilor-Luxottica deal,an example of vertical integration, puts lenses and frames under one roof while providing the products with a vast retail network.

Analysts on the Monday morning conference call wondered whether the new company would be better defined as a health care company or a fashion company. I didn’t know if you can call it health care or fashion or whatever,” Mr. Sagnières said.


Mr. Sagnières joined Essilor in 1989 and has been the company’s boss since 2012. He was born in Vienne,France, received his MBA from the European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD), near Paris, and was president of Essilor Canada, in Montreal,between 1991 and 1996. The Canadian division, created in 1972, has more than 1,000 employees and operates 40 optical laboratories and several lens coating facilities.

He acquired Canadian citizenship and wenton to run Essilor’s American operations. One of Essilor’s directors is LouiseFréchette, the former Canadian diplomat who was deputy secretary-general of the United Nations for eight years until 2006.

The share-exchange deal is technically a takeover of Luxottica by Essilor, with Essilor paying about €22.8-billion forthe Italian company. Mr. Del Vecchio’s investment holding company, Delfin, will contribute its 62-per-cent stake in Luxottica to Essilor in exchange for shares in the new company. Mr. Del Vecchio will become the largest shareholder, with a stake between 31 per cent and 38 per cent, though his voting rights will be capped at 31 per cent.

The shares of both companies soared on Monday. In Paris,Essilor was up 12 per cent, giving the company a market value of €22-billion.Luxottica, which is listed in Milan and New York, gained 8 percent, for a market value of €24-billion. Essilor Luxottica will trade on the Paris bourse.
Luxottica brings powerful global brandsto the new company. It was founded in 1961 in northern Italy by Mr.Del Vecchio, who was raised as an orphan and became a tool and dye maker. The company went on to dominate the industry for high-priced sunglasses and prescription frames to the point it has been criticized for allegedly keepingprices up through enormous market control.

Its house brands include Ray-Ban, Oakley,Persol and Alain Mikli. It makes frames under licence for many of the fashionhouses, including Prada, Giorgio Armani and Ralph Lauren and owns the Sunglass Hut, Lenscrafters and Target Optical chains.

Essilor, one of France’s oldest industrial companies, began life in 1849 as Essel and operated a eyeglass assembly shops in Paris. In 1959, it invented Varilux, thefirst progressive lens. Its merger with Lens maker Lissac in 1972 created Essilor, which would become a lens powerhouse.

Mr. Sagnières and Mr. del Vecchio had been circling each other for four years, but could never agree merger terms,partly, it appears, because of management turmoil at Luxottica. In 2014 alone,Mr. del Vecchio saw two CEOs leave the company.

The companies predicted strong growth.“Together, Essilor and Luxottica will be in stronger position to address the vision needs of the 7.2 billion people in the world out of which 2.5 billion people still suffer from uncorrected vision problems,” they said in a statement.

Source: =============>
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repor...rticle33631206

----------


## Jason H

I don't give Applebee's my money. I suspect there are others - mabye even for eyeglasses.

----------


## Den

What should one say about the Ukrainian optical market..?
It's still in the Stone Age, I think. We don't have such things like VPS and so on.
We are a country that only is reselling not producing own product. So i think we will not feel the difference too much.
But globally it's not the finest news to hear, m-m-yeah.

----------


## Quince

As much as I don't like the increased interest in creating exam kiosks and apps I try to be realistic about the future. That is definitely the direction we are heading in. I also see 3D printing creating problems but not for a long time. They need to be more common to be a threat. 

My personal experience- there are a lot of threats ahead of us, but they are not currently hurting our numbers. 90% of people that come to us from LC or whatever online retailer have recognized the difference in service, selection, and education. That is why they stay.

----------


## Quince

> *Merger of eyewear giants Luxottica, Essilor has a Canadian tint*
> 
> ERIC REGULY - EUROPEAN BUREAU CHIEF
> ROME — The Globe and Mail
> Published Monday, Jan. 16, 2017 5:51AM EST
> Last updated Monday, Jan. 16, 2017 4:58PM EST


Don't know that I would think of Sagnières as a Canadian or have any Canadian loyalty with or without citizenship. I guess that isn't really the point though. I did like the background this article covered. There is definitely some interesting history here and Del Vecchio seems quite the character. There is a lot of power at stake and though this shuffle took a few years for them to learn, there is a lot of opportunity for changes in the near future. It will probably take Del Vecchio's retirement to see any real progress though.

----------


## drk

Well, I didn't know they were so damn philanthropic.

----------


## Chris Ryser

> *Don't know that I would think of Sagnières as a Canadian or have any Canadian loyalty with or without citizenship. I guess that isn't really the point though. I did like the background this article covered.*



Nothing to do with Canadian citizenship or loyalty. The person has spent several years on this Continent and knows what is different and what it is all about. so he is not a novice.

Do not underestimate the other side. Just think that Essilor will now have its fingers at a chain with over 1000 stores on this continent, located in the USA and Canada.

----------


## Kurzsichtig

> Willkommen zum OptiBoard  .......................
> 
> Just to inform you that the North American Continent, and specially the USA, ..... were 50% of the individual States are not regulated, so anybody can be a street cleaner and open an optical shop the day after without having to learn the profession before, .......can open an opticians store and display, make and sell glasses.
> 
> This has been the perfect Essilor un-opposed playground to gain expertise on all angles of the optical business.


Hi Chris,

I have spent much time reading this board for years, since my apprenticeship. 

Interestingly enough there is not a lot of difference. In Austria and Germany there needs to be one guy with the needed certifications in the company to account for all future possible liabilities. Wich basically means hat any big chain needs just one optician per company (basically). In reality the big chains operate with about 10% opticians - trained in sale, lab and basic optics, and 90% sales personel. 

Due to a wierd set of Laws Optiker - the term optician is not regulated, any sales personel can use that on their nametags. Augenoptiker - eye optician is, but try to explain that to the regular public.

The first upheaval was when Essel and Silor merged ages ago to create Essilor, they were a frames and glasses manufacturer respectively - as you sure know way better then i do. ;) It's all just a little bit of history repeating. We know their antics well - fortunately, due to the very fertile multinational economy a lot of small businesses flourish. A lot of eyewear brands are in that category. 

Unfortunately most small european glass labs (meaning manufacturers, central labs for edging as you have are very rare) have quality issues, so in that regard we are screwed as well. Essilor, zeiss and in a lesser degree rodenstock control the market.

The one big difference: Due to the original economic map with lots of small countries there are a lot of former national chains and only 2 really big international players. One of wich is run by a certain family.

So the big E (or EL) can't just buy retail in one swoop. Yet.

I wish you all the best!

----------


## Chris Ryser

*Attractive Valuation Or Is Luxottica's Business Model At Risk?*


Luxottica (NYSE:LUX) is the largest eyewear company in the world with a market capitalization of ca. €20B. The company primarily designs, manufactures and distributes mid to high-end eyewear products. It also directly sells those to the end customer through online sales and a strong retail net work.


*Sustainable Competitive Advantages:*
** Vertical Integration -* Luxottica achieved its quasi-monopoly power over the years through excellent integration of acquisitions and execution of its vertically integrated business model. The company is involved in all parts of the value chain. It creates and designs the products after which these get manufactured in their production facilities and distributed through its logistics network in over 150 countries. About 20 years ago, the company also entered the retail space and now has a network of over 7,200 stores worldwide that accounts for ca. 60% of its revenue. Its retailing experience is also vertically integrated as in some stores the customer can purchase his glasses after having had an eye exam in-store. To complete its vertical integration, Luxottica also owns the second largest vision benefits company in the U.S. (EyeMed). The only space in which Luxottica is not a dominant player is the production of lenses. 


** Non-cyclical industry -* Luxottica's revenues are primarily derived from the sales of prescription glasses and sunglasses. Except in underdeveloped countries, almost every single person has a pair of sunglasses. Other than giving you protection from the sun, sunglasses are also largely considered a fashion accessory. Given that this is very likely to stay in place, it is a very sustainable product and solid business to be in. Prescription glasses are also very sustainable products as vision correction is a necessity. With approximately 2.5 billion people in the world who need glasses or eye improvement measures, it is very likely the most common flaw of the human body. With people spending less time outdoors and staring at screens more than ever before, it is unlikely that this will improve. On top of an aging and growing population, about 1 billion people do not have access to the eyewear they need. Consequently, this market has plenty of room for growth especially in emerging markets. Alternatives such as contact lenses and surgery are taking away some market share but the market for glasses is expected to remain strong. This is because most people who wear contact lenses also own a pair of glasses and surgery remains an expensive alternative with risks involved.

Source: =============è
http://seekingalpha.com/article/4012...ess-model-risk

----------


## drk

Those stock reports are bush league.

----------


## Chris Ryser

Thank you drk...................I did delete them to not get accused of anything, the rest is still ok and valid.

----------


## Quantrill

I would like to remind everyone that there are plenty of things going against Luxottica as well.

Maui Jim has already ended their partnership with Lenscrafters, so that will probably get more MJ frames into any independents that want it.  Also, Lux bought out Oakley, laid off a bunch of folks and now there are people from another country answering phones for Oakley that do not understand the products that Oakley sells.  There has been a decline in quality from Oakley already and one can only assume that consumers will soon realize this.

Ray Bans are still extremely popular but some of their new sun frames are just MJ knockoffs and I don't think they are very impressive at all.  Maybe consumers will flock to the new RB frames but I wouldn't count on it.  

The level of "service" in a lot of Lux stores is BAD.  LC, Target, Sears, etc... they are just hiring people with retail sales skills and these people know very, very little about optics.  How many times would you go back to a place if they couldn't accurately diagnose any issues you have, or failed to take accurate measurements and needed to remake your eyewear?

This merger is not good for independents but Lux already has plenty of problems they need to deal with.

----------


## Chris Ryser

> *This merger is not good for independents but Lux already has plenty of problems they need to deal with.
> *



As far as I understand is, that Essilor will be in charge, and will run the whole thing. So do expect some major changes in the way Essilor is doing business with the added Luxottica.

However it still might not be good for independents as Essilor has added the on-line opticals and might use the LC as a contact point for them.

----------


## David_Garza

> I think the big brick-crappers right now would be VSP.  A substantial amount of vision care in the U.S. market, at least, funnels through these pre-paid plans.  
> 
> This cannot be good for VSP.  I wouldn't be surprised to see them "de-list" essilor products, now, or even Luxottica products.  
> 
> That would be a problem.



Would love to see this happen ASAP!!!!
Why would it be a problem???

----------


## COMEINPEACE

both stock prices rose on the news(NOT usual when mergers are announced)
this means the both shareholders think this is a good deal-
share holders and lawyers rule the world,ya know

----------


## sstree

I have a question. I pulled up a eyemed plan today. It has a portion that says Frame & Contact lens must me from selection. It talked about the Luxottica Vision Care portal. Has anyone else had this happen? I don't even know what it is.

----------


## drk

> Thank you drk...................I did delete them to not get accused of anything, the rest is still ok and valid.


Not you, of course.  The reportage.

----------


## Browman

> I would like to remind everyone that there are plenty of things going against Luxottica as well.
> 
> Maui Jim has already ended their partnership with Lenscrafters, so that will probably get more MJ frames into any independents that want it.  Also, Lux bought out Oakley, laid off a bunch of folks and now there are people from another country answering phones for Oakley that do not understand the products that Oakley sells.  There has been a decline in quality from Oakley already and one can only assume that consumers will soon realize this.
> 
> Ray Bans are still extremely popular but some of their new sun frames are just MJ knockoffs and I don't think they are very impressive at all.  Maybe consumers will flock to the new RB frames but I wouldn't count on it.  
> 
> The level of "service" in a lot of Lux stores is BAD.  LC, Target, Sears, etc... they are just hiring people with retail sales skills and these people know very, very little about optics.  How many times would you go back to a place if they couldn't accurately diagnose any issues you have, or failed to take accurate measurements and needed to remake your eyewear?
> 
> This merger is not good for independents but Lux already has plenty of problems they need to deal with.


At this point, there's as much chance of people not buying Ray Ban as there is of people not drinking Coca-Cola. 

Completely agree about Lux b&m customer service, though.

----------


## Chris Ryser

Jan 17, 2017 7:55am
*Luxottica and Essilor seal 46 bln euro eyewear merger

*Italy’s Luxottica and France’s Essilor have signed a 46 billion euro (US$49 billion) merger to create a global eyewear powerhouse with annual revenue of more than 15 billion euros.

The all-share deal is one of Europe’s largest cross-border tie-ups and brings together Luxottica, the world’s top spectacles maker with brands such as Ray-Ban and Oakley, with leading lens manufacturer Essilor, Reuters reports.

“Finally … two products which are naturally complementary — namely frames and lenses — will be designed, manufactured and distributed under the same roof,” Luxottica’s 81-year-old founder Leonardo Del Vecchio said in a statement on Monday.

The merger between the top players in the 95 billion eyewear market is aimed at helping the businesses to take full advantage of expected strong demand for prescription spectacles and sunglasses due to an aging global population and increasing awareness about eye care.

Jefferies Analysts estimate that the market is growing at between 2 percent and 4 percent a year, while Luxottica and Essilor say that at least 2.5 billion people in the world still suffer from uncorrected vision problems.

*The dealalso removes — for now at least — uncertainty over succession at Luxottica,which has lost three CEOs since 2014 because of rifts with Del Vecchio.
*
Both companies have been grappling with slowing sales growth, hit by weakness in North America, and face rising competition from cheaper rivals and the challenge of online distribution.

*While Asia and* *Latin America** are seen by the companies as potential growth markets,* *e-commerce will also be a top priority.*

Source:  =================>
http://www.ejinsight.com/20170117-lu...eyewear-merger

----------


## Chris Ryser

> *As much as I don't like the increased interest in creating exam kiosks and apps I try to be realistic about the future. That is definitely the direction we are heading in. ....................
> 
> 
> **My personal experience- there are a lot of threats ahead of us, but they are not currently hurting our numbers. 90% of people that come to us from LC or whatever online retailer have recognized the difference in service, selection, and education. That is why they stay.*



With the new merger going into active status very soon, my guess is that the Lens Crafters organization is in for a big revamp. 

They will be also used as refueling stations for the newly to be expanded online sales as the new organization has mentioned as per above post. There you have already over 1,000 stores in the USA and Canada, to not only sell glasses, but also to service their online sales, for free or at a minimum charge.

We should see some action very soon, with a priority in on-line sales as far as it looks right now.

----------


## Chris Ryser

*With Luxottica’s marriage with Essilor, Leonardo Del Vecchio has dealt with the issue of his succession*

by _Marigia Mangano

_The marriage of Italian eyewear company *Luxottica* and French lens manufacturer Essilor Is a big industrial bet. With almost €50 billion of combined capitalization andtotal revenues of more than €15 billion, the numbers involved are impressive.

But beyond the future value creation that will come from the merger of the two groups, according to the most attentive observers the deal seems to meet Luxottica founder *Leonardo Del Vecchio*’s needs to sort out the question of succession once and for all.

And his dynasty is quite extensive. As well as his wife Nicoletta Zampillo, who entered just recently in the circle of future inheritors, there are his numerous children, stemming from three marriages, whose share allocation has already been sealed in Delfin, the controlling holding of Luxottica.

*The subject of succession
*
*The impression is that the choice to lay the foundations for this jump in size responds not just to evident industrial motives but also to the desire of Luxottica’s 81-year-old founder to slowly move the role of the family from shareholder-business manager to purely an investor.
*
continue reading the whole story at:  ========>

*http://www.italy24.ilsole24ore.com/a...p?uuid=AEIUKzB*

----------


## Chris Ryser

> *While Asia and* *Latin America** are seen by the companies as potential growth markets,* *e-commerce will also be a top priority.*



Above we can see what their top priority will be to start with.

Expansion of the e-commerce.

Essilor has 15, and Lux has 2, which presently come to 17 on-line selling websites selling frames and prescriptions directly to the public.

Upping the amount of websites would probably mean that they also want to use their LensCrafter stores also as servicing units for the glasses sold on the web, which puts them at a very big advantage to start with.

Dispensing opticians should serious start thinking about what could be coming in the near future, and adapt to it before it gets here.

----------


## Chris Ryser

*From the small factory he founded in 1961 near Venice, Leonardo Del Vecchio created an eyeglasses empire, and at 81 is invading the corrective lenses market by merging his Luxottica firm with Essilor.
*
The merger is the latest chapter in Del Vecchio's rags-to-riches story.

Born in 1935 in Milan, Del Vecchio was sent to an orphanage at a young age after his father died.

At 15, he began working in a factory where the owner encouraged him to take night classes at the Brera Fine Arts Academy, in particular for design.

In 1958, Del Vecchio struck out on his own, opening his own eyeglasses workshop in the Venice region, the home of Italy's eyeglasses industry. Three years later, he founded Luxottica, which specialized in making pieces for eyeglasses manufacturers.

The business began to take off in the early 1970s when Luxottica shifted focus to making its own eyeglasses frames, and then boomed in the 1980s when the company went after the US market.

The group is today a giant quoted on both the Milan and New York stock exchanges that generated more than 9 billion euros ($9.5 billion) in sales in 2015 and counts some 80,000 employees throughout the world.

It has a stable of top brands including Ray-Ban and Oakley sunglasses, while also manufacturing frames for luxury brands such as Chanel, Prada and Versace.

Luxottica also owns the Sunglass Hut chain of retail shops.

*'Big vision'*
Thesuccess of Luxottica has made Del Vecchio Italy's second-richest person afterMaria Franca Fissolo, the widow of Michele Ferrero, who transformed Ferrerointo one of the world's leading sweets companies.

Forbes magazine has estimated Del Vecchio fortune at $18.8 billion (17.75billion euros).

"He owes his success to his own abilities. He was an orphan, he didn'tbenefit from privilege. And despite that, he built an empire," said AndreaSianesi, dean of the business school at the Milan Polytechnic University.

"He's someone who has a big vision," said Sianesi, pointing out thatDel Vecchio had the smarts to develop everything from "the factories,distribution networks to retail chains".

Del Vecchio "has a love for products and a deep knowledge of all thedetails. He knows all the elements of the cycle, from production todistribution," said Sianesi, adding "he acquired all this experienceon the ground".

Having worked his way up himself, Del Vecchio has forged a strong bond with hisemployees.

On his 80th birthday, he gave the firm's 8,000 employees in Italy sharesworth a total of around nine million euros.

"Luxottica has always been a very innovative company in terms of humanresources management, for example allowing employees the possibility of settingtheir work hours depending on their personal obligations," said Sianesi.

Succession turmoil
The issue of succession and the future of the company had raised concern and occasionally sparked turmoil in recent years.

In September 2014, Andrea Guerra quit after a decade as Del Vecchio's right-hand man in charge of managing Luxottica, after falling out with the company's founder.

Guerra's replacement lasted just 40 days.

After a year with two chief executives, Del Vecchio finally took over direct control of the firm in January 2016, along with the sales.

With the merger of Essilor, the world leader in corrective lenses, "...my dream to create a major global player in the eyewear industry, fully integrated and excellent in all its parts, comes finally true," Del Vecchio said in the merger announcement.

Del Vecchio will be the chief executive of the new Essilor Luxottica

The merger "is very coherent with the history of Luxottica's development" as it will create a completely integrated group, said Sianesi at the Milan Polytechnic University.

source:  ==============>

http://www.thelocal.it/20170118/ital...is-own-success

----------


## Chris Ryser

*Blog Coverage Italy's Luxottica Group and France's Essilor Unite Set to Dominate the Optical World

The merger will combine the strengths of the two companies creating an eyewear company that deals in everything from lenses to frames to eyewear.

Luxottica's brand portfolio includes popular brands like Ray-Ban, Oakley, Vogue Eyewear, Persol, Oliver Peoples, and Alain Mikli. It also has licences to manufacture frames for luxury brands like Giorgio Armani, Burberry, Bulgari, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Michael Kors, Prada, Ralph Lauren, Tiffany & Co., Versace and Valentino. Its business model covers the whole gamut in eyewear from design and production to logistics and distribution.

Essilor, on the other hand, caters to the customized prescription lenses and its brands include Varilux, Crizal, Transitions, Eyezen, Xperio, Foster Grant, Costa, and Bolon. Its business model also covers the entire process in prescription lenses from design to, manufacturing to marketing and distribution. It also manufactures and sells specialized equipment and instruments for eyecare professionals.

Commenting on the merger Chairman and CEO of Essilor, Hubert Sagnières said:
"By joining forces today, these two international players can now accelerate their global expansion to the benefit of customers, employees and shareholders as well as the industry as a whole."

Chairman of Delfin and Executive Chairman of Luxottica, Leonardo Del Vecchio added:
"Finally, after fifty years, two products which are naturally complementary, namely frames and lenses, will be designed, manufactured and distributed under the same roof."


Terms of the merger

The transaction is between Essilor and Delfin Sarl, the holding company of of the Del Vecchio Family which owns a majority stake in Luxottica. Delfin currently holds approximately 62% stake in Luxottica and will sell its complete stake to Essilor. In exchange Delfin will receive newly issued shares of Essilor. For each Luxottica's share, it will receive 0.461 share of Essilor. Following the exchange, Essilor will acquire the remaining outstanding shares of Luxottica from the market at the same exchange value as per the provisions of the Italian Laws. Once the shares of Luxottica are acquired, the Company will be delisted and will be merged with Essilor.
Following the merger, the new merged company will be named EssilorLuxottica and will be wholly owned subsidiary of Essilor. EssilorLuxottica is expected to be headquartered in Paris and listed at the Paris Stock Exchange. Essilor will become the holding company of EssilorLuxottica and will operate as Essilor International. It is estimated that Delfin will end up owning 31%-38% in the new company and will be one of the largest shareholders. Voting rights of any shareholders of EssilorLuxottica will be capped at 31%.
The current Executive Chairman of Luxottica, Leonardo Del Vecchio, will be the Executive Chairman and CEO of EssilorLuxottica whereas the current Chairman and CEO of Essilor, Hubert Sagnières will be appointed as the Executive Vice-Chairman and Deputy CEO of EssilorLuxottica. Both Leonardo Del Vecchio and Hubert Sagnières will hold equal powers as Chairman and CEO in EssilorLuxottica, they will jointly continue with their current roles in Luxottica and Essilor International. The new company's Board of Directors will have 16 members and also have equal representation with eight members each from Luxottica and Essilor.


The merger is expected to be completed in the second half of 2017. The transaction is subject to Essilor's Works Councils' information and consultation procedure according to French law, clearance from relevant anti-trust authorities, and completion of all closing conditions.
Joint Synergies and Benefits
The merger will create an eyewear behemoth that will bring frames and lenses under a single umbrella. Both companies own the best production facilities, R&D culture and a global distribution network. The merger will allow them to leverage their capabilities to capture the market opportunities and become a dominant player in the eyewear market.

The merger will also integrate over 140,000 employees and presence in over 150 countries. The merged company will have combined revenue of €15 billion and a combined EBITDA of approximately €3.5 billion, based on both companies' 2015 performance. Both companies have a healthy balance sheet and strong cash flows. The merger will thus create a financially stable and fit organisation with strong growth prospects. It is well equipped to take on the challenges of the growing competition in the sector.

The merger is also expected to generate cost and revenue synergies of over €400 million-€500 million in the mid- to long-term period.

Background

Leonardo Del Vecchio had founded Luxottica in 1961 and grew the company to its current avatar. He is now 81 years old has been looking for a merger with Essilor since 2014. He has clearly stated that none of his six children will succeed him and he is looking to retire soon. He has been having trouble managing the turmoil in the top management of his business. The current transaction is tailor made to solve his issues.
Both companies' future plans were leading to a major battleground, as Essilor had plans to enter into the manufacturing of frames and Luxottica had plans to enter the lenses market. This merger brings an amicable solution to a potentially explosive situation.


Stock Performance

Luxottica Group's share price finished yesterday's trading session at $56.73, jumping 8.22%. A total volume of 461.55 thousand shares exchanged hands, which was higher than the 3 months average volume of 98.55 thousand shares. The stock has advanced 23.51% and 16.37% in the last three months and past six months, respectively. The stock is trading at a PE ratio of 33.25 and has a dividend yield of 1.75%. The stock currently has a market cap of $27.10 billion.

Active Wall Street:

Active Wall Street (AWS) produces regular sponsored and non-sponsored reports, articles, stock market blogs, and popular investment newsletters covering equities listed on NYSE and NASDAQ and micro-cap stocks. AWS has two distinct and independent departments. One department produces non-sponsored analyst certified content generally in the form of press releases, articles and reports covering equities listed on NYSE and NASDAQ and the other produces sponsored content (in most cases not reviewed by a registered analyst), which typically consists of compensated investment newsletters, articles and reports covering listed stocks and micro-caps. Such sponsored content is outside the scope of procedures detailed below.

AWS has not been compensated; directly or indirectly; for producing or publishing this document.


See more at source: ==============>
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/blog-c...131500519.html


*

----------


## drk

> With the new merger going into active status very soon, my guess is that the Lens Crafters organization is in for a big revamp. 
> 
> They will be also used as refueling stations for the newly to be expanded online sales as the new organization has mentioned as per above post. There you have already over 1,000 stores in the USA and Canada, to not only sell glasses, but also to service their online sales, for free or at a minimum charge.
> 
> We should see some action very soon, with a priority in on-line sales as far as it looks right now.


I doubt that.  

A big fat mall rent pricetag for an online support center?

No.  Retail will still be king.  Otherwise they'll be in the strip malls where the rent is cheap.

While I'd bet that first-worlders are the most comfortable doing the online shopping thing, the rest of the underdeveloped world would be a great market, as they all get little mini-stores in their grubby cellphone-grasping mitts.

----------


## Lori

> I asked about VSP because it seems that - at least initially - there hasn't been so much as a peep about anti-trust issues and monopolies. One wonders if adding VSP to the above train wreck would start to ring the alarm bells for someone...t least on the American front?


From what I understand, Essilux is not a monopoly because it now claims around 33% of the global market. If it acquired VSP the percentage would change to a level in which antitrust laws would apply. (?) Anyone care to verify or clarify?

----------


## Uilleann

> From what I understand, Essilux is not a monopoly because it now claims around 33% of the global market. If it acquired VSP the percentage would change to a level in which antitrust laws would apply. (?) Anyone care to verify or clarify?


Worldwide is a different story from the USA specifically of course.  And it's been mentioned that the US makes up about 50% of Essilir's business already?  and or Lux as well?  It's far from a market segment that will be ignored regardless.

----------


## Stanley1993

> From what I understand, Essilux is not a monopoly because it now claims around 33% of the global market. If it acquired VSP the percentage would change to a level in which antitrust laws would apply. (?) Anyone care to verify or clarify?


I think you will find that EssilorLuxottica would represent about 16% of the global market as described by Leonardo Del Vecchio.

----------


## djal

> Looking for your comments on this important matter for all of us in every optical field.


In one of your post previously, you mentioned Hoya owned in Japan (or was it in all Asia?) online optical  retailers.  I've never heard it before;  where did you learn that?  Our clinic has switched to Hoya for the simple reason we were seeing the writing on the wall and thought Essilor was becoming a monster company with an endless appetite.  I've said on many occasions how disappointed I am by the product selection Hoya offers in North America and can't understand why they do not offer the marvelous products Hoya Japan offers.  If Hoya follows Essilor's path in the future then our options become very limited...  Zeiss?

----------


## Stanley1993

> In one of your post previously, you mentioned Hoya owned in Japan (or was it in all Asia?) online optical  retailers.  I've never heard it before;  where did you learn that?  Our clinic has switched to Hoya for the simple reason we were seeing the writing on the wall and thought Essilor was becoming a monster company with an endless appetite.  I've said on many occasions how disappointed I am by the product selection Hoya offers in North America and can't understand why they do not offer the marvelous products Hoya Japan offers.  If Hoya follows Essilor's path in the future then our options become very limited...  Zeiss?


I think you are looking for EyeCity - about 240 locations

----------


## Browman

> Our clinic has switched to Hoya for the simple reason we were seeing the writing on the wall


GO ZEISS NOW. 

Don't make the mistake we did and put all of your eggs into Hoya's basket. They'll drop it, break all of your eggs, and then stand idly by and reassure you that they're "the ally of the ECP" as you desperately attempt to pick up the mess.

----------


## Chris Ryser

> *From what I understand, Essilux is not a monopoly because it now claims around 33% of the global market. If it acquired VSP the percentage would change to a level in which antitrust laws would apply. (?)* *Anyone care to verify or clarify?*



The following article from Forbes Magazine might just help to clear this up:


 SEP 10, 2014 @ 10:25 AM *95,574* VIEWS

*Meet the Four-Eyed, Eight-Tentacled Monopoly That is Making Your Glasses So Expensive**Ana Swanson* As my fellow four-eyes will know, buying new glasses can be an expensive undertaking. The fanciest frames at LensCrafters often sell for $400-500. Holding those little assemblages of glass, metal, and plastic that cost $25-50 to make in your hand, you might wonder how exactly you were roped into paying so much.

The answer is basic economics. Most frames are manufactured by a single company, named Luxottica. The Italian company makes frames and sunglasses for an amazing list of brands and stores, including:

*See all about Monopoly at: ===========>*
http://www.forbes.com/sites/anaswans.../#64e050a74dc8

----------


## Decades

> Naturally, they're going to spin it like they are now everyone's new best friend...has happened many times already and is pretty lame.


And that's _precisely_ what Dr. Howard Purcell did this evening on the weekly Power Hour broadcast ... I'll give him credit for one thing; he fielded some hardball questions with pivoting mastery ~ a real politician in the making.

He had the audacity to keep saying we need only look at Essilor's proven track record of ACTION in support of independents. He held Vision Source and PERC out as evidence that Essilor has repeatedly proven their loyalty to independent ECPs saying, "Essilor has made significant investments in the independent sector." Sure, that spin works because_ acquisitions_ are after all, "significant investments." It's as if Dr.Purcell thinks we have no idea that _it's been the loyalty of independents to Essilor_ which has built their brand and brought EOA all this power.

*Purcell went on to brag about how their integration of wholesale labs over the past 15 years also proves their dedication to independents*, asserting that Essilor has successfully maintained strong, healthy relationships with independent wholesale labs and distributors over that time. Seriously??? Essilor’s (and Zeiss, Hoya, VSP) overwhelming acquisition of a massive segment of the wholesale market has been successful only for Essilor, and the families who made a small fortune selling to them. And who can blame them for cashing in on, in many cases, generations of hard work and personal sacrifice?

Now that they own the bulk of the wholesale market, Essilor’s aggressive tactics to take business _away_ from the few remaining independent labs has become _brazen_. First it was the partnership with Luxottica to pull EyeMed work out of all but Essilor labs. Now they’ve gone to negotiating “exclusive” product options with VBA that net docs more on lenses, but force them to purchase those products from the Essilor lab network, i.e., they are maneuvering to take even more business _away_ from family owned and operated labs. VSP is doing the same thing, but primarily with third party vision insurance contracts that require docs to use VSP One labs. 

How many family owned and operated labs _of any real size_ are actually left in the US???  Essilor has systematically acquired and/or eliminated their competitors _and_ suppliers at ALL levels, including lens _and_ equipment manufacturing, wholesalelabs _and_ optical supply distribution, premium coating _and_ treatment technologies, online ordering channels (VisionWeb) _and_ online retail. This merger solidifies their blatant pursuit of owning and controlling a "direct to consumer" supply chain. 

Anyone who doesn't perceive this as a threat might want to pay _very close_ attention to VisionMonday's annual publication of the "TOP US RETAILERS" for 2016, which should come out in early Q2. VisionSource may actually overthrow Luxottica as the largest retail network in the business. As of 2013 (not a typo), VisionSource was already #2 in units sold, second only to WalMart; Luxottica was and remains #1 in dollars by an _extremely_ small margin over VisionSource (as of 2015).

*Based on VisionMonday's 2015 report, EOA-LUX will own well over $5 Billion in U.S. Retail $ales; WalMart will be a* _distant_ *#2, with $1.7 Billion.* *Based on the same 2015 report,* *EOA-LUX will own as much of the U.S. (direct to consumer) market as Walmart*_ plus_ *the next*_ five_ *retail chains*_ combined_*, including: National Vision, Costco, Visionworks, MyEyeDr/Capital Vision*_ and_ *U.S. Vision. Bear in mind that this does not include (either of) their online retail sales.* How 'bout we all just let that sink in a while...

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## Chris Ryser

> *I am by the product selection Hoya offers in North America and can't understand why they do not offer the marvelous products Hoya Japan offers.  If Hoya follows Essilor's path in the future then our options become very limited...  Zeiss?
> *



Hoya jumped into the takeover race way too late, a few month ago and purchased 2 manufacturing companies.

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## Chris Ryser

> *How 'bout we all just let that sink in a while...*


This thread has unintentionally become a collection of facts on one of the historic turning points in the optical eyeglass business. 

By just looking at the amount of views it shows over the last three days it has stirred some interest and comments on world wide basis.

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## SimonCook

> This thread has unintentionally become a collection of facts on one of the historic turning points in the optical eyeglass business. 
> 
> By just looking at the amount of views it shows over the last three days it has stirred some interest and comments on worldwide basis.


Whilst the news of this merger is undeniably terrible. I am hopeful that it could mark a turning point for the industry. The fact there is so much publicity presents an opportunity for smaller lens and frame manufacturers to differentiate themselves from the luxottica essilor behemoth in the eyes of the consumer.

The success of dollar shave club shows the potential for the plucky underdog to challenger a massive incumbent and hopefully warby and parker among others will achieve the same.

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## Chris Ryser

> *Whilst the news of this merger is undeniably terrible. I am hopeful that it could mark a turning point for the industry. The fact there is so much publicity presents an opportunity for smaller lens and frame manufacturers to differentiate themselves from the luxottica essilor behemoth in the eyes of the consumer.
> 
> **The success of dollar shave club shows the potential for the plucky underdog to challenger a massive incumbent and hopefully warby and parker among others will achieve the same.*




Hi Simon, ...........Thank you for your post No 1, and welcome to OptiBoard.

Most probably Warby Parker and Zenni right now the most popular on-line opticals on a global basis, will be next on the list of acquisitions by the new ESSILUX.

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## Chris Ryser

*Essilor International SA (EI) Given a 140.00 Price Target by Deutsche Bank AG Analysts*
January 19th, 2017 - By Renee Jackson

Essilor International SA (EPA:EI) has been given a 140.00 ($148.94) target price by Deutsche Bank AG in a report issued on Tuesday. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. J P Morgan Chase & Co set a 94.00 ($100.00) target price on shares of Essilor International SA and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, October 24th. Jefferies Group set a 121.00 ($128.72) price objective on shares of Essilor International SA and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 25th. HSBC set a 137.00 ($145.74) price objective on shares of Essilor International SA and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 23rd. Independent Research GmbH set a 93.00 ($98.94) price objective on shares of Essilor International SA and gave the stock a sell rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 23rd. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets set a 140.00 ($148.94) price objective on shares of Essilor International SA and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. *The company currently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of 117.00 ($124.47).

*see all of it: ==========>
https://www.thecerbatgem.com/2017/01...-analysts.html

*So if you would have owned some Essilor stock you would have been 25% richer towards the end of this week.*

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## David_Garza

> From what I understand, Essilux is not a monopoly because it now claims around 33% of the global market. If it acquired VSP the percentage would change to a level in which antitrust laws would apply. (?) Anyone care to verify or clarify?


Another alt-VSP would pop up and already has in many states

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## Lab Insight

> Hoya jumped into the takeover race way too late, a few month ago and purchased 2 manufacturing companies.


Only the scraps are left for Hoya now...they've been missing the boat for years.

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## drk

> The following article from Forbes Magazine might just help to clear this up:
> 
> 
>  SEP 10, 2014 @ 10:25 AM *95,574* VIEWS
> 
> *Meet the Four-Eyed, Eight-Tentacled Monopoly That is Making Your Glasses So Expensive*
> 
> *Ana Swanson* 
> 
> ...


Anyone who knows the real lay of the land in optician world will see that article for what it is.

Garbage.  Fake news.

So, extrapolate: we are reading garbage day in/day out. 

Disconcerting, isn't it?

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## drk

Purcell is a paid shill/hack.

I've talked to him.

He'll say whatever he gets paid to say.

He's dead to me.

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## drk

Decades: tough question for you.

In this day and age, if you are a lab owner and "Essilux" waves 2 million dollars in your face, are you going to say no?

Are you going to pass on your business to the kids, when the giant predator can stamp them out by taking millions of customers off the "free" market via EyeMed?

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## Lori

> Anyone who knows the real lay of the land in optician world will see that article for what it is.
> 
> Garbage. Fake news.
> 
> So, extrapolate: we are reading garbage day in/day out. 
> 
> Disconcerting, isn't it?


You're right about this, the media often skews the truth. It's a sad truth.

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## drk

LOL a Zenni ad pops up on that article's webpage.  And that's all you need to know.  Except that Forbes Magazine is junk, apparently.

Also LOL...the article includes a chart from "Wikipedia".  Great source, Forbes.

What a freaking idiot.

How about talking to someone that knows what's really going on?  Shouldn't be hard.  

Heck, log on here.



*Meet the Four-Eyed, Eight-Tentacled Monopoly That is Making Your Glasses So Expensive*

As my fellow four-eyes will know, buying new glasses can be an expensive undertaking. The fanciest frames at LensCrafters often sell for $400-500. Holding those little assemblages of glass, metal, and plastic that cost $25-50 to make in your hand, you might wonder how exactly you were roped into paying so much.

The answer is basic economics. Most frames are manufactured by a single company, named Luxottica. The Italian company makes frames and sunglasses for an amazing list of brands and stores, including:
Prada
Chanel
Dolce & Gabbana
Versace

Burberry
Ralph Lauren
Tiffany
Bulgari

Vogue
Persol
Coach
DKNY
Rayban
Oakley
Sunglasses Hut
LensCrafters
Oliver Peoples
Pearle Vision
Target Optical
Sears Optical
The company also makes Google Glass – though 79-year-old Luxottica founder Leonardo Del Vecchio recently commented that he’d be embarrassed to wear the Google eyewear outside of a disco, and that his disco days are over.

Meet the four-eyed, eight-tentacled monopoly that is making your eyeglasses so darned expensive. Luxottica estimates that at least half a billion people around the world are currently wearing their glasses. I don’t know about you, but I am pushing them up my nose right now.

Luxottica controls 80% of the major brands in the $28 billion global eyeglasses industry. This monopolistic structure of the market leads to profits that are “relatively obscene,” says Tim Wu, a professor of law at Columbia University and the author of _The Master Switch. In a speech given at this year's annual conference for New America, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, Wu remarks that products in some industries seem to only get better and cheaper -- laptops, for example -- while other products, like eyeglasses, remain strangely pricey, with only superficial innovation.
_
_The difference is due to market structure. Because it controls so many prominent brands and retail chains, Luxottica is what economists call a price maker. That means it can set the price of its goods near the highest amount that consumers would be willing to pay for them, unlike more competitive industries, in which competition both encourages constant innovation and forces the price of goods down toward what they cost to manufacture. Having control over the pricing of a huge variety of different brands means Luxottica can also carefully engineer the prices of different brands to encourage you to shell out an additional $80 for that beloved logo or streak of Tiffany blue.

_
In certain industries, monopolies can be appropriate and natural – the power sector, for example, where it costs less for one company to set up and run a power grid than it would for multiple companies to set up competing power grids. But monopolies have no place in a low-tech consumer product market like that for eyeglasses. In this environment, monopolies create a very cynical form of capitalism – giving consumers merely the illusion of choice rather than choice itself, and extracting a lot of money from them in the process.

The easiest way to bust a monopoly like this is for consumers to recognize that they are being overcharged and patronize competitors. Warby Parker, which is mainly an online sales room for glasses, is putting up some competition, but the atmosphere remains rarified.

Many people, Luxottica representatives included, often explain away the high price of glasses by arguing that consumers are willing to pay a lot for something they wear on their faces 15 hours a day. But even if consumers are willing to pay high prices, that doesn’t mean that they should. Prices are determined in large part by the structure of the market.

*1/10/17 update: We received the following statement from a representative for Luxottica:
"We’re proud to make some of the most beautiful and highest quality eyewear in the world, but we are in no way a monopoly. In reality, the optical industry is very competitive and fragmented. Of the close to 1 billion pairs of glasses sold worldwide last year, only 93 million of them were produced by Luxottica - less than 10%. Also, there are literally thousands of eyewear brands available to consumers today and Luxottica makes eyewear for around 30 different brands, only a few of which we actually own. Even on the retail side, half of all glasses sold in the U.S. are done so by independent opticians. The other half are sold by chains including Costco, Walmart, Solstice and many other non-Luxottica brands. So yes, while we have a fantastic portfolio, it is false to say we control the market."*
Ana Swanson is a Washington, D.C.-based writer, editor, and analyst who covers global economic and business trends, with a focus on China and India. Follow her on Twitter at @AnaSwanson.

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## Golfnorth

> Purcell is a paid shill/hack.
> 
> I've talked to him.
> 
> He'll say whatever he gets paid to say.
> 
> He's dead to me.


DRK.....He's dead to me.......that's what Kevin O'Leary says when he's on Shark Tank. The same Kevin O'Leary that is running for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative party of Canada.

Regards,
Golfnorth

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## Chris Ryser

> *LOL a Zenni ad pops up on that article's webpage. And that's all you need to know.* *Except that Forbes Magazine is junk, apparently.**
> 
> Also LOL...the article includes a chart from "Wikipedia". Great source, Forbes.*



I did not know that "Forbes Magazine" was junk, and if it is, what counts is, how many readers they have. 

When I read a regular Swiss newspaper in German, on a weekend, there are mostly "Clearly Eyeglass" ads popping
up by the dozens and they are in English.

Dont accuse the reading material, send whoever places the ads a warning not to do it anymore.

What is wrong by using a Wikipedia chart ? They are neutral and try to present facts.

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## drk

Because "Wikipedia" is "edit-able" by...the Russians!

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## Quince

Wikipedia has sources listed (or should) at the bottom of each article so that the "facts" can be traced. Whoever wrote the article should know you only quote a direct source- not 3rd party.

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## Chris Ryser

> *Wikipedia has sources listed (or should) at the bottom of each article so that the "facts" can be traced. Whoever wrote the article should know you only quote a direct source- not 3rd party.*


The marking below says:

_Regulated v. Unregulated Monopoly (Photo credit: Wikipedia)_

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## shanbaum

There are several aspects to antitrust law; one is whether an entity exercises "market power", which a monopoly can do ("market power" meaning it can set prices arbitrarily without being concerned about competitive pressure), but which companies that are not monopolies in terms of market share can also do.  Another is whether a merger is likely to lessen competition because of vertical integration (which is the likely source of contention here).  Strangely, a company can grow its own vertical integration organically without running afoul of the law - it just can't buy it.

In short, there's no level of market share that serves as a "magic number" for triggering anti-trust scrutiny - it's not that market share doesn't matter; it's just not dispositive in a deterministic way.  What the regulators consider is whether the merger will give the combined entity significant "market power."

(I think I may have responded to a post that was deleted, which asserted that Essilux will only control some 30-odd percent of the market, and so wouldn't be subject to anti-trust law).

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## Decades

> Decades: tough question for you.
> 
> In this day and age, if you are a lab owner and "Essilux" waves 2 million dollars in your face, are you going to say no?
> 
> Are you going to pass on your business to the kids, when the giant predator can stamp them out by taking millions of customers off the "free" market via EyeMed?


That's a great question, and it's why I qualified my comment regarding families who've sold their labs to the manufacturers by also saying:
"And who can blame them for cashing in on, in many cases, generations of hard work and personal sacrifice?"

I in no way blame or judge those families. They in many cases devoted their entire lives, their kids lives, and their grandkids lives to their businesses. They deserve a pay day!

As for EyeMed, essilor already took that business away from independent labs, and some labs which survived that blow are even stronger today. I hope the same will hold true for independent optometrists and opticians who now face that challenge... perhaps they should seek out the nearest family owned and operated lab that is thriving in their local market, and ask them how they did (and are still doing) it.

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## Lab Insight

> That's a great question, and it's why I qualified my comment regarding families who've sold their labs to the manufacturers by also saying:
> "And who can blame them for cashing in on, in many cases, generations of hard work and personal sacrifice?"
> 
> I in no way blame or judge those families. They in many cases devoted their entire lives, their kids lives, and their grandkids lives to their businesses. They deserve a pay day!


Correct and agree; we all deserve a potential payout for our hard efforts. No other company out there is offering a comparable offer or mutual solution.

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## LENNY

> Correct and agree; we all deserve a potential payout for our hard efforts. No other company out there is offering a comparable offer or mutual solution.


Thats why I love when people scream to only support independents! They are independent only before they beingsold! I always pick the best deal out there!

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## Chris Ryser

Thank you Shanbaum. your comments are well appreciated .

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## Chris Ryser

*After years of speculation, Essilor has agreed deal withLuxottica that will see the two behemoths work as one. Simon Jones looks at theterms of the deal what it might mean for optics around the world
*

*Author:Simon Jones
Published:20/01/2017

January 16, 2017, will go down in the annalsof optical history as its Brexit, or even Trump moment. The €46bn mergerbetween Essilor and Delfin, the group controlling Luxottica, will change the landscape of the global optics sector forever.

Themerger, which will see EssilorLuxottica control more than 25% of the global spectacle and contact lens market. According to 2015 data from Euromonitor,single entity companies, Johnson & Johnson, Safilo and Hoya control just 3.9%, 3.7% and 3.2% of the market, respectively. The remaining 62% comprises all other businesses. Together, Essilor and Luxottica have annual revenue of €15bn from their operations in 150 countries with 140,000 staff. They have alsobeen clear market leaders since 2010 with eyewear sector sales growth more thandouble that of the likes of Zeiss, Safilo, Novartis and Hoya.
Ina joint statement, the companies said the newly formed group would be a better position to seize opportunities in an eyewear market where there was strong demand from an increasing need for corrective eyewear and an equally strong appetite for brands.


The deal will make Luxottica’s founder,Leonardo Del Vecchio (pictured left), the largest single shareholder in the combined company, with an approximate 30% stake. He will also serve as executive chairman and CEO of the new company. Delfin will then own between 31%and 38% of the shares of EssilorLuxottica and would be its largest shareholder.A 16-strong board of directors will be created, made up of eight members from each company.

HubertSagnières, chairman and CEO of Essilor said: ‘Our project has one simple motivation: to better respond to the needs of an immense global population invision correction and vision protection by bringing together two great companies, one dedicated to lenses and the other to frames.*

*Hubert Sagnières, chairman and CEO of Essilor Said:

‘Our project has one simple motivation: to better respond to the needs ofan immense global population in vision correction and vision protection bybringing together two great companies, one dedicated to lenses and the other two frames.


With extraordinary success, Luxottica hasbuilt prestigious brands, backed by an industry state-of-the-art supply chain and distribution network. Essilor brings 168 years of innovation and industrial excellence in the design, manufacturing and distribution of ophthalmic and sunlenses. By joining forces today, these two international players can nowaccelerate their global expansion to the benefit of customers, employees andshareholders as well as the industry as a whole.’

The news will come as little surprise for most, as ‘who would buy who’ has been the subject of many rumours in recent years. In 2014, the companies admitted that discussions had taken place about a merger but were later shelved. Recently, however, the two companies had appeared to heading in the same direction and adeal between the two had started to look unlikely. Luxottica has moved intoprescription lens manufacturing with a new plant for Ray-Ban in Agordo, while Essilor’s expansion into online spectacle lens retailing has been well documented.The deal has defused the risk of growing competition between the two.


Essilor has not been the only potential lens manufacturer mooted to join forces with Luxottica. Carl Zeiss was the subject of merger speculation in 2016 after the nature of the growing working relationship was detailed in an investor analyst presentation in March that year. 



The dynamic of the Zeiss relationship is justone that will be under the microscope in the coming months. In Australia,Luxottica’s 2003, $550m investment in the OPSM retail chain has been locked inbattle with Specsavers. According to a report in The Austrailian, OPSM hasaround 35% market share in the country, compared to Specsavers’ 20%. As aresult of the deal Essilor will now supply Specsavers.


Dreamland


Onthe merger, Leonardo Del Vecchio, chairman of Delfin and executive chairman of Luxottica Group said: ‘With this agreement my dream to create a major global player in the eyewear industry, fully integrated and excellent in all its parts, comes finally true. It was some time now that we knew that this was the right solution but only today are there the right conditions to make itpossible. The marriage between two key companies in their sectors will bringgreat benefits to the market, for employees and mainly for all our consumers.Finally, after 50 years, two products which are naturally complementary, namelyframes and lenses, will be designed, manufactured and distributed under thesame roof.’

The agreement will settle the nerves of those worried about succession planning at the top of Luxottica. The past three years have been turbulent atboard level within the company, with a revolving door of CEOs and trials ofdifferent structures. Del Vecchio stepped back into the breach two years ago tostabilise things at the top, but the merger will further boost confidence now that Sagnières represents a solid leader for the future.


With the ink barely dry on the contract, it isstill very early to assess the full impact of the merger on optics andimportantly, independent practices here in the UK. Many, including P&A Eyecarein Crief, Scotland, have already stoppedworking with the companies, but are concerned about the potential monopolybeing created. ‘I made the decision to stop working with Luxottica and Essilorsome years ago. My main frustration with both is the way in which they try to“befriend” the independent practice owner and convince us that we need theirproduct in our practice, while at the same time both companies are sellingdirect to consumers through optical stores, department stores and online websites.


‘Theystopped becoming a supplier and became competition. Their merger is further evidence of a monopoly in our industry and I would encourage any practice ownerto explore independent alternatives,’ said director James Michael.


TDTom Davies CEO Tom Davies also raised the issue of too much control over the sector. ‘Both already dance around anti-competition rulings, it will be interesting to see how they get around them,’ he said.


However, Davies was optimistic about theopportunities: ‘With the combined retail and online presence, they are going tochange the industry as we know it and this will present opportunities for niche service-led opticians and it will hurt the multiples and smaller online companies.’
Specsavers co-founder Doug Perkins was morepensive: ‘It’s a colossal control of the market on a global basis – who knows what the end game is? Essilor has made significant investments in automationand the internet, which is going to be significant.


‘Inthe UKat the moment it will have an effect on the supply chain more than high streetretail. The line where manufacturers were different from retailers has gone.’


Timeline


1849 Paris Paris-based spectacle-frame makers take the name ofSociété des Lunetiers (SL)


1899 SLSL comprises three lens factories and four that makeframes


1927 SLSL starts selling corrective lenses


1959 VariluxVarilux progressive lens is born


1961 LeonardoLeonardo Del Vecchio establishes Luxottica


1971 First Luxottica eyewear collection presented at MIDO


1972 Essilor Group formed through merger of two leading opticalgroups


1975 Essilor listed on French stock market


1979 Essilor expands to Asiawith manufactur


1981 Luxottica begins global expansion with German subsidiary


1986 Essilor of America formed, headquartered in Dallas, Texas


1988 Luxottica opens licence portfolio with GiorgioArmani deal


1990 Luxottica lists on the New York Stock Exchange


1991 Essilor joint venture results in world’s firstphotochromic lens Transitions



1992Essilor brings Crizal lens to market

1993 Varilux Comfort progressive lens launched

1995 Luxottica enters retail with acquisition of LensCrafters, Persol acquired

1999 Ray-Ban acquired by Luxottica

2001 Luxottica announces the acquisition of Sunglass Hut chain

2003 Luxottica confirms licence agreements for Versace, Prada brands

2007 Luxottica acquires California-based sunglass giant Oakley

2009 Essilor makes first online acquisition with Framesdirect.com. The same year, Essilor launches Mr Blue

2010 Essilor acquires Shamir Optical and Signet Armorlite

2013 Luxottica acquires Alain Mikli International. Essilor launches Crizal Prevencia to protect against harmful blue-violet and UV light

2014 Luxottica acquires glasses.com. Essilor acquires 100% of Transitions Optical

2017 Essilor-Luxottica merger announced, worth reported $50bn




source : ==============>

https://www.opticianonline.net/featu...uxottica-unite 









*

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## Chris Ryser

*A continental merger between Luxottica and Essilor fits a pattern*
January 19, 2017

Italian business leaders fret about French firms plucking control of local firms

IT MAY be an exaggeration to talk of French firms “colonising”corporate Italy.Some Italian business leaders nonetheless fret about expansionists from across the northern border plucking control of some of their most celebrated local firms. Family-run companies, especially, can make tempting prospects: ones that make excellent products but struggle to grow, or that face agonising succession problems, are notably juicy targets.


Thelatest example, announced this week, is the merger between Luxottica, an Italian Maker of fancy specs, and Essilor, a spiffy French producer of lenses. Together They will produce an entity with a market value of at least €46bn ($49bn),140,000 staff and annual revenues of €15bn. The deal, one of the largest cross-border tie-ups attempted by European firms, had long been expected byindustry watchers. The idea is to produce an entity that combines Italian style and skills in marketing with deft French engineering.


The new firm will be listed on the Paris bourse (as probably its eighth-largest firm) later this year. That will mark the culmination of a long campaign by Essilor to arrange a merger. The founder and owner of Luxottica, Leonardo DelVecchio, now 81 years old, had long resisted. But he now gushes that “two products which are naturally complementary, namely frames and lenses, will be designed, manufactured and distributed under the same roof.”


His change of heart may stem from the problem of arranging for successor. The company he founded in 1961 is widely lauded and owns global brands such as Ray Ban, Oakley and Sunglass Hut. Mr Del Vecchio himself rosefrom poverty (he spent some of his childhood in an orphanage) to become Italy’s Second-richest man, worth some €20bn. Yet for all his strengths, he could not foster a strong alternative leader and would not let any of his children (from various marriages) become managers. Colleagues felt squeezed out, seeing theboss as reluctant to delegate. One ex-employee says “90% of top management”abandoned the company in recent years.


The deal with Essilor is thus a way out, evenif Mr Del Vecchio is not stepping down yet. Through his family trust, Delfin,he will be the largest shareholder in the merged entity (potentially with 38%of it) and its “executive chairman and chief executive” for the next few years.But Essilor’s boss, Hubert Sagnières, who is 61 and will share equal managerial duties of the new entity, looks well placed to take charge once Mr Del Vecchio Retires.


Building a bigger company looks possible. Somesavings will come from knitting two teams of managers together. The global eyewear market, already worth some €90bn, is alluring. It is expected to grow as cohorts of middle-class consumers in Asia,especially, find they need eyesight correction and develop a liking for specs as accessories or protection against ultraviolet rays.


An amicable merger hardly ranks as a French assault on Italy. But itdoes come in the context of other Franco-Italian tie-ups. In luxury goods, forexample, French conglomerates with deep pockets, notably LVMH and Kering, have been acquiring smaller Italian rivals for years. French firms first grew faster by attending to flourishing markets for accessories such as handbags. Then they paid handsomely to take over prominent Italian brands, including Gucci, Bulgari And Fendi.


TheFrench are active in other sectors, too. Vincent Bolloré, a swaggering billionaire who is determined to grow in Italy, last year led his firm,Vivendi, to buy nearly a quarter of Telecom Italia. (Unconfirmed rumours say hemight sell to another French operator, Orange.)The daring Frenchman is also pushing Vivendi in a second bold bid, for Mediaset, a company in which Silvio Berlusconi, a former Italian prime minister, and his family are the biggest owners. Vivendi now owns nearly 29% of Mediaset.



In Retailing, too, a pair of French supermarket chains, Auchan and Carrefour,together operate more than 2,000 supermarkets in Italy’s unusually fragmented industry. Given that many businesses in Italy are run by ageing,first-generation founders with no clear plan for succession, more targets are bound to attract buyers from its neighbour to the north.


Source:===========è


*http://www.economist.com/news/busine...makers-eyewear*

----------


## drk

> Thank you Shanbaum. your comments are well appreciated .


Hear,hear.

----------


## drk

Chris, what do you think of this?

"The era of the family-run business is over.  Mega-capitalized publicly-owned corporations buy out traditional, tender-loving-care-businesses that would normally have gone to the next generation, and run them with a cold-hearted profit motive."

I made that up all by myself.

I think it's true.

The problem is almost no one can raise a good kid, anymore.

----------


## Lori

> "The era of the family-run business is over. Mega-capitalized publicly-own corporations buy out traditional, tender-loving-care-businesses that would normally have gone to the next generation, and run them with a cold-hearted profit motive."
> 
> I made that up all by myself.
> 
> I think it's true.
> 
> The problem is almost no one can raise a good kid, anymore.


There's truth to your statement. The tragic possibility is that as more corporates gobble up family owned businesses (in all categories), the younger generation won't experience the quality and care provided by independents and thereby won't recognize the benefits. I do however have hope that people will tire of corporations and support independents. The pendulum swings and eventually settles down somewhere in the middle.

----------


## Lelarep

> ...The problem is almost no one can raise a good kid, anymore.


The question then becomes, who has the lions share of the blame regarding that?

----------


## Chris Ryser

> *The question then becomes, who has the lions share of the blame regarding that?*



Technology of the last few years.

I a world where nobody can walk around around anymore, without a computerized cell phone with access to anything you want and desire, the world has totally changed.

Two years ago driving through the PA mountains on HWy 81 it was snowing and I reduced speed to 40 mph.

Three cars passed us at at least 60 mph and each of the drivers was texting. About 10 miles later all three were lying
in the ditch, upside down

----------


## Chris Ryser

drk......................you are totally correct.........I agree fully

----------


## Chris Ryser

*Leonardo Del Vecchio, the far-sighted dealmaker of Milan*

*January 20, 2017*

In 2014 Italy’s richest man determined it was time to take again management of the firm he had began 50 years earlier inthe foothills of the Dolomites. The billionaire founder of Luxottica — by now the world’s greatest eyewear maker and the identify behind 
manufacturer Ray-Ban and Oakley — introduced he was able to do offers after a decade’s absence. Corporate governance specialists have been aghast.

But this week Leonardo Del Vecchio, 81,confounded his critics. In a deal typical of the boldness behind his inconceivable rise from orphanage boy to the most lionised of Italy’s entrepreneurs — main a pack that features Giorgio Armani and Silvio Berlusconi — he agreed to merge Luxottica With France’s Essilor, the world’s largest lens producer.

The Deal will create a world enterprise with a market worth of about €50bn, mixed gross sales of €15bn, 140,000 staff in additional than 150 international locations and a 15 per cent market share of the €90bn eyewear and visible wellbeing trade. It will dwarf its nearest international competitor, elevating the prospect of antitrust issues amongst regulators.

Mr Del Vecchio turns into govt chairman and the largest shareholder in the merged Essilor* Luxottica, with 31 per cent of voting rights. Hubert Sagnières, 61, Essilor’s boss, turns into govt vice-chairman.
“We have the model. What was lacking was the high quality of the lenses,” Mr Del Vecchio mentioned with customary bluntness. Shares in Essilor jumped greater than 10 per cent on the information. Luxottica shares jumped eight per cent.

Friday, 20 January, 2017

“Del Vecchio is a formidable dealmaker,” says Alberto Nagel, chief govt of Italy’s Mediobanca, adviser to the holding firm of the founder’s household — a sprawling dynasty comprising six kids from three marriages.

The new group is at the centre of a fast-growing international market. Of the world’s 7.3bn individuals, greater than 60 per cent are thought of to have want of imaginative and prescient correction, however just one.9bn put on glasses or contact lenses or have had surgical procedure. More than 2.5bn are nonetheless in want, largely in Asia, Africa and Latin America, in keeping with Euromonitor.

The dangers of solar injury from extremely*violet radiation from the environment and blue gentle from computer systems and smartphones are pushing sun shades from a “good to have” to “will need to have” amongst rising center lessons.
Meanwhile, eyewear has grow to be necessary for a luxurious items trade looking for new income streams. Luxottica already manufactures for trend manufacturers together with Chanel, Armani, Prada and Burberry. The merged group shall be listed in Paris, alongside Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy and Gucci proprietor Kering.


Mr Del Vecchio noticed the alternatives in themarket early. His father died 5 months earlier than his start in Milan in 1935 and — struggling to help him and his three siblings — his widowed mom despatched him to an orphanage when he was simply seven years previous. He labouredas an apprentice at a software manufacturing unit in Milan earlier than specializing in makingelements for spectacles. In 1961, he based Luxottica as a contract producer primarily based in the mountain city of Agordo,the place the firm nonetheless has a manufacturing unit.
Work at all times got here at the beginning,”he as soon as mentioned. “If I’d began promoting fruit, I’d be enthusiastic about fruit”.

In1988 the group signed its first licensing take care of Giorgio Armani, the Italian trend model. Two years later Luxottica listed in New York. Media-shy and taciturn, Mr DelVecchio pulled this off regardless of talking no English. By 2000, there was a list in Milan,adopted by audacious acquisitions of the group’s finest recognized manufacturers, together with Sunglass Hut and Ray-Ban.

As he entered his eighth decade, Mr Del Vecchio handed over in 2004 to Andrea Guerra. The entrepreneur was applauded for saying he wished educated professionals to take over the firm, avoiding the acquainted entice of intergenerational strife. Mr Guerra greater than doubled revenues to €7.3bn throughout his decade at the helm earlier than quitting, sad about Mr Del Vecchio’s return. The founder, in the meantime — whose eldest son, Claudio, owns preppy US retailer Brooks Brothers — maintained he wouldn’t be succeeded by a relative.

But his return to day-to-day administration led to instability, with three chief executives leaving in as a few years. Luxottica’s share worth fell by 1 / 4 in the first 10 months of 2016.


Friday, 20 January, 2017

The take care of Essilor caps this tumultuous interval. Mr Del Vecchio had toyed with the concept of a return for years. He was lastly satisfied by the demise in September 2016 of his up to date, Bernardo Caprotti, the billionaire founder of Italian market chain Esselunga, say individuals concerned with the deal. A messy tug of conflict amongst Capriotti’s kids gave Mr Del Vecchio the resolve to safe his legacy and succession. In Mr Sagnières, 20 years his junior, Mr Del Vecchio finds a prepared inheritor.

In a flurry of calls between Monte Carlo, the place Mr Del Vecchio spends a lot of his time, the Caribbean, Sri Lanka and Verbier, the place the numerous events have been holidaying over Christmas, the deal was struck — chaperoned by two of Europe’s most skilled dealmakers, Luigi de Vecchi, chairman of Citi in the area, and Olivier Pécoux, co-chief govt of Rothschild & Co.

It was Mr Del Vecchio’s newest innovation. Defying his impoverished beginnings, he had struck the largest cross-border transaction primarily based on mixed market worth ever in continental Europe, securing his legacy.


Source: Financial Times

----------


## eyefly4u

st an FYI for all you independent Opticians and Optometrists.
 If you are still using anything Essilor or Luxottica then you are supporting the competition.
 This merger is not a win for consumers or the optical industry as it will just drive up pricing.
 These two corporations  have always talked out of both sides of their  mouth claiming to support small business optical. (JUST CALL THE EYEMED  CUSTOMER SUPPORT LINE AND LISTEN TO THE COMMERCIAL TO GET YOUR GLASSES  ONLINE) Nothing can be further from the truth and I always knew this!!
 There is enough better lens and frame products in the market.
 Lets be smart.

----------


## Chris Ryser

In all the years I have been posting on OptiBoard I have never seen such a big interest in one subject, like this one. 

I guess it is all in our interest to get the latest big news in the optical field in every detail possible, because it will affect all of us.

----------


## Lab Insight

> In all the years I have been posting on OptiBoard I have never seen such a big interest in one subject, like this one. 
> 
> I guess it is all in our interest to get the latest big news in the optical field in every detail possible, because it will affect all of us.


The shareholders certainly love the news with an instant 10% gain.

----------


## Speed

Yes.  Lets blame the labs.    But what will we tell our patients when they find out we are buying their lenses from lenscrafters?

----------


## Chris Ryser

*INTERNATIONAL TRADER - EUROPE
*

*Luxottica, Essilor Merger Will Create Global Powerhouse
*

*Deal between Italian frame maker andFrench lens maker should have plenty of upside for investors


French optical lens manufacturer EssilorInternational and Italian frame maker Luxottica Group announced plans for a $50billion merger last week, marking one of Europes biggest cross-border dealsand creating an eyewear business that promises to generate plenty of upside forinvestors.
The tie-up wasremarkably well-received, considering that its both large andinternationalfactors that usually signal potential execution risks. On Monday,when it was announced, both companies stocks soared. Essilor (ticker: EI.France) ended up 12%,while Luxottica (LUX.Italy) gained more than 8%. Bothcorporations have New Yorktraded shares. Essilors change hands under thesymbol ESLOY; Luxotticas, under LUX.


Thegood start was testament to the clear strategic logic behind the idea ofcreating a combined new business named EssilorLuxottica. Both companies areleaders in their fields. And with one making the lenses and the other theframes, theres very little overlap.


Says Sean Thorpe, international portfoliomanager at Aristotle Capital Management: We have always admired theoutstanding collection of brands at Luxottica, which include Ray-Ban, Persol,and Oakley, just to name a few. These brands, combined with Essilorstechnological leadership in lens manufacturing, will create a global powerhousein the 100 billion euro [$107 billion] eyewear industry. The potential revenueand cost synergies, combined with already attractive margins and returns, will,in our opinion, create a high-quality company which is very well-positioned inan exciting industry.

Essilor has brand names of its own, includingCrizal, Transitions, and Varilux.

THE ALL-SHARE TRANSACTION, which will face antitrust scrutiny, will see Luxottica founder and Executive Chairman Leonardo Del Vecchios Delfin holding company swap its 62% of the Italian company for 31% to 38% of the new business, making it EssilorLuxotticas biggest single shareholder. Delfins voting rights will be capped at 31%.
The exchange ratio of 0.461 of an Essilor share for one of Luxotticas represents a roughly 5% discount to the Italian outfits closing price before the merger plan was disclosed, says Bryan Garnier analyst Cédric Rossi. Calling it a game changer within the eyewear industry, he describes it as a perfect fit in categories and distribution channels.


Del Vecchio and Essilor CEO Hubert Sagnières plan to share power equally at the head of EssilorLuxottica, with a 16-member board divided evenly between the two sides. This may allay succession fears that weighed on Luxotticas stock in 2014, amid reports that the now 81-year-old Del Vecchio had clashed with some of his top aides, seeing off two CEOs in less than two months.


The companies estimate that the combined business will generate 3.5 billion in annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, on more than 15 billion in revenue. Essilor and Luxottica both currently sport price/earnings ratios around 30, based on expected 2017 profits.
UBS analysts reckon that 37% of the new companys sales will come from lenses, 35% from retail sales, 27% from wholesale sales, sunglasses, and reading glasses, and 1% from equipment. UBS analyst Nicolas Langlet has Essilor as a Buy, with a 130 price target. His colleague Fred Speirs rates Luxottica at Neutral, with a 45 price target, down sharply from its recent levels. The stocks closed at 110.25 and 51.25, respectively, Friday.

Del Vecchio and Essilor CEO Hubert Sagnièresplan to share power equally at the head of EssilorLuxottica, with a 16-member board divided evenly between the two sides. This may allay succession fearsthat weighed on Luxotticas stock in 2014, amid reports that the now81-year-old Del Vecchio had clashed with some of his top aides, seeing off twoCEOs in less than two months.
The companies estimate that the combined business will generate 3.5 billion in annual earnings before interest, taxes,depreciation, and amortization, on more than 15 billion in revenue. Essilorand Luxottica both currently sport price/earnings ratios around 30, based onexpected 2017 profits.
UBS analysts reckon that 37% of the new companys sales will come from lenses, 35%from retail sales, 27% from wholesale sales, sunglasses, and reading glasses,and 1% from equipment. UBS analyst Nicolas Langlet has Essilor as a Buy, with a130 price target. His colleague Fred Speirs rates Luxottica at Neutral, with a45 price target, down sharply from its recent levels. The stocks closed at110.25 and 51.25, respectively, Friday.


whichwill face antitrust scrutiny, will see Luxottica founder and Executive Chairman Leonardo Del Vecchios Delfin holding company swap its 62% of the Italiancompany for 31% to 38% of the new business, making it EssilorLuxotticasbiggest single shareholder. Delfins voting rights will be capped at 31%.
Theexchange ratio of 0.461 of an Essilor share for one of Luxotticas represents aroughly 5% discount to the Italian outfits closing price before the mergerplan was disclosed, says Bryan Garnier analyst Cédric Rossi. Calling it a gamechanger within the eyewear industry, he describes it as a perfect fit incategories and distribution channels.

THE ALL-SHARE RANSACTION, which will face antitrust scrutiny, will see Luxottica founder and Executive Chairman Leonardo Del Vecchios Delfin holding company swap its 62% of the Italian company for 31% to 38% of the new business, making it EssilorLuxotticas biggest single shareholder. Delfins voting rights will be capped at 31%.
The exchange ratio of 0.461 of an Essilor share for one of Luxotticas represents a roughly 5% discount to the Italian outfits closing price before the merger plan was disclosed, says Bryan Garnier analyst Cédric Rossi. Calling it a game changer within the eyewear industry, he describes it as a perfect fit in categories and distribution channels.


DelVecchio and Essilor CEO Hubert Sagnières plan to share power equally at thehead of EssilorLuxottica, with a 16-member board divided evenly between the twosides. This may allay succession fears that weighed on Luxotticas stock in2014, amid reports that the now 81-year-old Del Vecchio had clashed with someof his top aides, seeing off two CEOs in less than two months.


Del Vecchio and Essilor CEO Hubert Sagnièresplan to share power equally at the head of EssilorLuxottica, with a 16-memberboard divided evenly between the two sides. This may allay succession fearsthat weighed on Luxotticas stock in 2014, amid reports that the now81-year-old Del Vecchio had clashed with some of his top aides, seeing off twoCEOs in less than two months.

The companies estimate that the combinedbusiness will generate 3.5 billion in annual earnings before interest, taxes,depreciation, and amortization, on more than 15 billion in revenue. Essilorand Luxottica both currently sport price/earnings ratios around 30, based onexpected 2017 profits.

*

*UBS analysts reckon that 37% of the new companys sales will come from lenses, 35% from retail sales, 27% from wholesale sales, sunglasses, and reading glasses, and 1% from equipment. UBS analyst Nicolas Langlet has Essilor as a Buy, with a 130 price target. His colleague Fred Speirs rates Luxottica at Neutral, with a 45 price target, down sharply from its recent levels. The stocks closed at 110.25 and 51.25, respectively, Friday.*

Source: ============è
*http://www.barrons.com/articles/luxo...use-1484977028*

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## Chris Ryser

Essilor had to back off, by some reason or another, after an antitrust scrutiny from a takeover of Rodenstock just about a year ago. 

Here are the details as published in a German Newspaper and translated by Google:


Google Translation from German Newspaper


*Optical Company Rodenstock gets new owner*  
German middle class news Published: 09.12.15, 18:03

*THE OWNER OF RODENSTOCK, THE COMPANY WILL CONTINUE TO AN AMERICAN-BRITISH INVESTMENT COMPANY. 
THE GLASS MANUFACTURER HAS RECEIVED FROM HIS DEVELOPMENT, EVEN AFTER TAX, RODENSTOCK - UNUSUAL FOR A COMPANY IN THE HANDS OF FINANCIAL INVESTORS - IS A "CLEARLY POSITIVE" RESULT.

*
The glasses manufacturer Rodenstock gets a new owner. The financial investor Bridgepoint handed the Munich-based company a package with some small participations to the American-British investment company Compass Partners, as two persons familiar with the transaction Reuters on Wednesday said. Compass will clearly account for more than 50 per cent, while Bridgepoint remains committed with a small share of Rodenstock. The traditional company with 4500 employees has recovered from its deep crisis in recent years. For the current year Rodenstock is targeting a record turnover of 421 million euros, which is 3.5 per cent more than a year before. The operating profit will rise to 84 (2014: 82) million euros.

Even after tax, Rodenstock expects a "clearly positive" 
result - unusual for a company in the hands of financial 
investors. CEO Oliver Castalio hopes to grow with the new owner on further opportunities - also by acquisitions. 
"Now a new phase in our development is starting," he said.Currently, *the German competitor Eschenbach Optik is for sale.*

Rodenstock himself only confirmed that Bridgepoint had 
taken Compass as another shareholder on board. The 
Compass, which specializes in the acquisition of entire 
equity portfolios, said that they had acquired "certain 
holdings" from Bridgepoint for a total of 360 million 
pounds (almost 500 million euros) without mentioning 
names. They would continue to be supported by Bridgepoint.

Bridgepoint had to get rid of the companies because the 
fund expired, with which their takeover was financed.  By joining Compass Partners, Bridgepoint is able to pass 
over 430 million euros to its own fund investors, said 
one of the insiders. In 2007, shortly before the financial crisis, Bridgepoint had paid a total of 700 million euros for Rodenstock alone. The company, however, came into a deep crisis a short time later, scraping past the bankruptcy.

*Google Translate
ttps://translate.google.ca/*

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## Chris Ryser

Just for the record, this thread has been fed and posted by information received from all sides, by e-mail, from many sources, that have helped me to publish the optical news story of 2017, at the beginning of the year, in sections as they came up, over the last few days.*

*


> 





> *Luxottica, Essilor in 46 billion euro merger deal to create eyewear giant: Sources
> 
> Started by Chris Ryser, 01-15-2017 11:32 
> PM 12345
> 
> 
> ·        Replies:118
> ·        Views: 6,321
> 
> ...

----------


## drk

> drk......................you are totally correct.........I agree fully


You have a broad perspective.  If you agree, I believe it all the more.

----------


## Chris Ryser

> *Chris, what do you think of this?
> 
> **"The era of the family-run business is over.  Mega-capitalized publicly-owned corporations buy out traditional, tender-loving-care-businesses that would normally have gone to the next generation, and run them with a cold-hearted profit motive."
> **
> I made that up all by myself.
> 
> I think it's true.
> 
> The problem is almost no one can raise a good kid, anymore.
> *






> *You have a broad perspective. If you agree, I believe it all the more.
> *



That is what the large, worldwide corporations desire, want, work hard to, and try to achieve in every field. 

Best active and successful example are the existing large oil corporations that have eliminated their family run distributors,
the mechanical shop with gas pumps, that were listed under the title gas stations.

Between my home and the office, a 5 to 8 minute drive there used to be five of them, just a few years back, and there is one left with four pumps. 
The rest has been replaced by ten pump stations and a mini super market, mostly leased to immigrants from the far east.

The same trend is happening actively now also all over Europe, just in the beginning stage as the American Continent has been the testing ground. 

Many or most of the corporations acquired optical labs over the last few years have silently been moved to the far east and Mexico, and still keep their address, and are run with a phantom staff, I have been told.




> *"The era of the family-run business is over. Mega-capitalized publicly-owned corporations buy out traditional, tender-loving-care-businesses that would normally have gone to the next generation, and run them with a cold-hearted profit motive."
> 
> *



Above statement might be right as all the signs are indicating towards that trend.

Specially if you want to defend the status quo, by defending the personalized service given by the optical retailer. 

Do not forget there are over one thousand existing stores in the LC chain between the USA and Canada that can be nominated, and most probably will be, as the new service stations of their to be extended chain of on line opticals.




> Jan 17, 2017 7:55am
> 
> *While Asia and* *Latin America** are seen by the companies as potential growth markets,* *e-commerce will also be a top priority.*


So drk, you kind of said it very clearly and you are most probably right, as I can see it. 

We can spin this thread to death with all the changes that are happening these days and more of them coming.

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## Chris Ryser

> *You have a broad perspective.  If you agree, I believe it all the more.
> *



drl..................I fully agree with you.

----------


## Chris Ryser

*Leonardo Del Vecchio, the far-sighted dealmaker of Milan*


January 20, 2017

In 2014 Italy’s richest man determined it was time to take again management of the firm he had began 50 years earlier in the foothills of the Dolomites. The billionaire founder of Luxottica — by now the world’s greatest eyewear maker and the identify behind manufacturers Ray-Ban and Oakley — introduced he was able to do offers after a decade’s absence. Corporate governance specialists have been aghast.

But this week Leonardo Del Vecchio, 81, confounded his critics. In a deal typical of the boldness behind his inconceivable rise from orphanage boy to the most lionised of Italy’s entrepreneurs — main a pack that features Giorgio Armani and Silvio Berlusconi — he agreed to merge Luxottica with France’s Essilor, the world’s largest lens producer.

The deal will create a world enterprise with a market worth of about €50bn, mixed gross sales of €15bn, 140,000 staff in additional than 150 international locations and a 15 per cent market share of the €90bn eyewear and visible well being trade. It will dwarf its nearest international competitor, elevating the prospect of antitrust issues amongst regulators.

Mr Del Vecchio turns into govt chairman and the largest shareholder in the merged Essilor* Luxottica, with 31 per cent of voting rights. Hubert Sagnières, 61, Essilor’s boss, turns into govt vice-chairman.

“We have the model. What was lacking was the high quality of the lenses,” Mr Del Vecchio mentioned with customary bluntness. Shares in Essilor jumped greater than 10 per cent on the information. Luxottica shares jumped eight per cent.
Friday, 20 January, 2017

“Del Vecchio is a formidable dealmaker,” says Alberto Nagel, chief govt of Italy’s Mediobanca, adviser to the holding firm of the founder’s household — a sprawling dynasty comprising six kids from three marriages.

The new group is at the centre of a fast-growing international market. Of the world’s 7.3bn individuals, greater than 60 per cent are thought of to have want of imaginative and prescient correction, however just one.9bn put on glasses or contact lenses or have had surgical procedure. More than 2.5bn are nonetheless in want, largely in Asia, Africa and Latin America, in keeping with Euromonitor.

The dangers of solar injury from extremely violet radiation from the environment and blue gentle from computer systems and smartphones are pushing sun shades from a “good to have” to “will need to have” amongst rising center lessons.

Meanwhile, eyewear has grow to be necessary for a luxurious items trade looking for new income streams. Luxottica already manufactures for trend manufacturers together with Chanel, Armani, Prada and Burberry. The merged group shall be listed in Paris, alongside Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy and Gucci proprietor Kering.

Mr Del Vecchio noticed the alternatives in the market early. His father died 5 months earlier than his start in Milan in 1935 and — struggling to help him and his three siblings — his widowed mom despatched him to an orphanage when he was simply seven years previous. He labored as an apprentice at a software manufacturing unit in Milan earlier than specializing in making elements for spectacles. In 1961, he based Luxottica as a contract producer primarily based in the mountain city of Agordo, the place the firm nonetheless has a manufacturing unit.

“Work at all times got here at the beginning,” he as soon as mentioned. “If I’d began promoting fruit, I’d be enthusiastic about fruit”.

In 1988 the group signed its first licensing take care of Giorgio Armani, the Italian trend model. Two years later Luxottica listed in New York. Media-shy and taciturn, Mr Del Vecchio pulled this off regardless of talking no English. By 2000, there was a list in Milan, adopted by audacious acquisitions of the group’s finest recognized manufacturers, together with Sunglass Hut and Ray-Ban.

As he entered his eighth decade, Mr Del Vecchio handed over in 2004 to Andrea Guerra. The entrepreneur was applauded for saying he wished educated professionals to take over the firm, avoiding the acquainted entice of intergenerational strife. Mr Guerra greater than doubled revenues to €7.3bn throughout his decade at the helm earlier than quitting, sad about Mr Del Vecchio’s return. The founder, in the meantime — whose eldest son, Claudio, owns preppy US retailer Brooks Brothers — maintained he wouldn’t be succeeded by a relative.

But his return to day-to-day administration led to instability, with three chief executives leaving in as a few years. Luxottica’s share worth fell by 1 / 4 in the first 10 months of 2016.

Friday, 20 January, 2017

The take care of Essilor caps this tumultuous interval. Mr Del Vecchio had toyed with the concept of a return for years. He was lastly satisfied by the demise in September 2016 of his up to date, Bernardo Caprotti, the billionaire founder of Italian market chain Esselunga, say individuals concerned with the deal. A messy tug of conflict amongst Caprotti’s kids gave Mr Del Vecchio the resolve to safe his legacy and succession. In Mr Sagnières, 20 years his junior, Mr Del Vecchio finds a prepared inheritor.

In a flurry of calls between Monte Carlo, the place Mr Del Vecchio spends a lot of his time, the Caribbean, Sri Lanka and Verbier, the place the numerous events have been holidaying over Christmas, the deal was struck — chaperoned by two of Europe’s most skilled dealmakers, Luigi de Vecchi, chairman of Citi in the area, and Olivier Pécoux, co-chief govt of Rothschild & Co.

It was Mr Del Vecchio’s newest innovation. Defying his impoverished beginnings, he had struck the largest cross-border transaction primarily based on mixed market worth ever in continental Europe, securing his legacy.


source:   =================>
*http://newsonahand.com/leonardo-del-...maker-of-milan*

----------


## Chris Ryser

*No benign neglect of Luxottica-Essilor, CCI*January 23, 2017, 11:53 PM IST 

When two European firms merge, should the Indian competition regulator take a view? It can and it could. Italy-based Luxottica, maker of Ray-Ban and other eyewear brands, has announced a merger with leading producer of lenses, Frances Essilor. The all-share merger would produce a 46 billion eyewear giant. While there is, as of now, no indication of abuse of its market dominance, which is what competition authorities worry about these days, rather than market dominance per se, there is potential for such an integrated player to act to the detriment of competitors.

Should this worry Indias competition authority? After all, the merger is taking place in faraway Europe and subject to the approval of Europes own beady-eyed watchdog. The simple point here is that such considerations about the national affiliation of companies and their regulatory oversight by the competent body of the relevant jurisdiction should not prevent the Competition Commission of India from examining such mergers for their impact on the Indian market.

In 2001, the European Competition Commission blocked the proposed merger of GE with Honeywell. Both are American companies and had approval from American regulators and from the regulators of 11other jurisdictions. Yet, Europes regulator assessed the merger to be not in Europes interest. Since Europe was too vital a market for GE or Honeywell to ignore, they abandoned the merger. India is slated to be one of the largest and fastest-growing consumer markets, including for eyewear. It is not a market anyone can ignore. It could well be that the proposed Luxottica-Essilor merger has no negative implication for India. But that should be established by CCI after a proper review, not assumed away at the outset.

This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Economic Times.

source: ===========>
http://blogs.economictimes.indiatime...ca-essilor-cci

----------


## Chris Ryser

Comments deleted as the following link wants to make you pay before seeing the article. 

See all of it, at : ===========>

https://www.ft.com/content/1c222c5c-...5-9e5580d6e5fb

----------


## Chris Ryser

The latest news and probably the biggest ever, in the optical industry is trickling towards an end.

It was 7 days of surprises, one after the other and have been recorded on OptiBoard for all to see, even in a few years from now.

We are now back to find answers to old questions concerning the way of life of the conventional optical retail end.

To sum it all up look again at this statement by Essilor:




> _
> Jan 17, 2017 7:55am_
> 
> _While Asia and_ _Latin America__ are seen by the companies as potential growth markets,_ _e-commerce will also be a top priority._



1) The merged corporation will own about 17 online optical retailers, and most probably will expand into that field by taking over more of the established online opticals.


2)  The over 1,000 LensCrafter stores in the USA and Canada will also become service centers for their online outlets, without having to pass on the patients to independent opticians.

Any independent optician should think over just these two above points which would seem to a be natural, and easy and not costly solution for the newly merged corporation and could become a massive competitor to the conventional optician.

----------


## Chris Ryser

> *Posts :      126
> 
>         Views :    7,714   *



Now that all the news is in the past and the subject is open for any comments or suggestions. 

There are still plenty views on the counter, but no comments by active OptiBoard posters.

*Subject: Total News Count by Google :
About 5,620 results** (0.70 seconds)*

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## Chris Ryser

*



Roger Hardy the former owner of “Coastal Eyeglasses” that he sold to ESSILOR, has done it again to another major Corporation, just a few short years later.


*
RETAIL & MANUFACTURING

*Walmart acquisitions point to increased competition in online shoe selling Battle of e-commerce goliaths could hurt smaller players*
 
By Glen Korstrom | Jan. 15, 2017, 6:55 p.m.


*Recent moves by Walmart to compete with Amazon.com for online shoppers could make life more challenging for mid-sized e-commerce players, such as Vancouver’s Shoes.com – but that competition could also make them takeover targets, say analysts.

*Walmart (NYSE:WMT) announced January 5 that it had shelled outUS$70 million to buy Shoebuy.com – a move that many interpreted as a shotacross the bow of Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN), which operates the shoe e-commercedivision Zappos.com.

Zappos Stopped shipping to Canada In 2011 but has a foothold on a sizable chunk of the U.S. online shoe market.

Walmart Would not reveal how much Shoebuy generates in annual revenue, but the magazine Internet Retailer, in 2013, estimated its sales to be around US$315 million.
That’sa similar size to Vancouver’s Shoes.com, given that its CEO, Roger Hardy, told Business in Vancouver in mid-2015 that his company had an annual revenue run rate of $320 million, and that he aimed for that rate to rise to $1 billion by 2020.The company has since stopped giving revenue projections.

Shoebuywill be part of Walmart’s Jet.com e-commerce subsidiary – a venture thatWalmart bought in September for US$3.3 billion.

The Shoebuy acquisition is also expected to be part of “more than US$1 billion in global e-commerce initiatives” that Walmart will make in 2017, according to thebig-box giant’s 2016 annual report.

“Walmart could crush almost any competitor if they wished to doso,” said Retail Insider Media owner and retail analyst Craig Patterson. “If Walmart is serious about these e-commerce acquisitions, and you would think that they would be, then all online players should be concerned.”

Wal Mart’s Dominance as the world’s largest retailer is based on its US$482.1 billion in revenue during the 2016 fiscal year, which ended last January.

Its Earnings reports do not break out overall e-commerce sales, but estimates based on e Marketer data peg total sales at US$13.5 billion, or less than 3% of Walmart’s overall sales.

Incontrast, Amazon.com generated US$128 billion in the four quarters up untilNovember, with the lion’s share of that revenue coming from e-commerce.

Amazon.com also has the edge on Walmart when it comes to market capitalization – acompany’s total market value – which can provide a key measure in determiningwhether a target company is worth being bought for shares instead of cash.

Amazon.com market capitalization is US$378.2 billion, or about80% more than Walmart’s US$209.7 billion value.

The revenue and market capitalization metrics combine to makeclear that investors value online sales much more than bricks-and-mortar sales in determining a company’s worth.

DIG360 retail analyst Raymond Shoolman suggested that both Walmart and Amazon.com could be interested in buying Shoes.com as a way to buttress their online-shoe-sale market share.

“Walmart Is sending out a signal that they are developing their e-commerce business and most recently they’ve chosen to focus on shoes,” he said.

“They’ve Overhauled their software systems for e-commerce and they’re really serious about competing. They’re worried about prospects for their bricks-and-mortar business in the next five to 10 years.”
Shoes.com, meanwhile, has started to open bricks-and-mortar locations, such as one on Burrard Street near Robson Street.

It has contracted out much of its warehouse needs so its staff count has fallen to about 200 today from about 650 in 2015.

Shoes.compresident Brad Wilson told BIV that he did not think Walmart’s Shoebuyacquisition would affect Shoes.com much.

Walmart’s Acquisition is a continuation of consolidation in the online-shoe-selling sector.

Shoes.comhas its roots in Hardy simultaneously buying Vancouver’s Shoeme.ca and Seattle’s OnlineShoes.com in mid-2014 and running the companies under one umbrella.


In December of that year, he bought Shoes.com, which was then the online division of St. Louis-based Brown Shoe Co. (NYSE:BWS).

Hardy Then merged all the brands in 2015. 
His penchant for acquisitions was also on display when Shoes.com bought socks manufacturer Richer Poorer in late 2015.

Source:   ==============è

https://www.biv.com/article/2017/1/r...creased-compet

----------


## Chris Ryser

> *Shoebuywill be part of Walmarts Jet.com e-commerce subsidiary  a venture thatWalmart bought in September for US$3.3 billion.
> The Shoebuy acquisition is also expected to be part of more than US$1 billion in global e-commerce initiatives that Walmart will make in 2017, according to thebig-box giants 2016 annual report.*



Will that new powerful company to start this year 2017 include an optical department ?

----------


## Plausible

Isn't there a rule against bumping your own thread? Last 9 posts have been by the thread starter and I think we all get the jist....................

----------


## Jason H

Yes, please, enough. We get it.

----------


## drk

Ok, I'll juice it a little.

So, I think Chris is providing "context".  

The main point:  everyone is dealing with e-commerce.  Shoes, glasses, etc. ad nauseum.   I guess that's somewhat comforting.  

Big companies will not miss the boat.  Example: essilux.  

Ergo, get used to it.

----------


## drk

Which builds his main point:

If glasses are going to be sold by the bushel full online, who's going to service them?


My point is that:
a. they're Rx devices, not shoes
b. even if they were not Rx devices, they require custom measurements and aftercare

I still think we don't go along with it, as a profession.  It's antithetical to what we are.

----------


## DanLiv

> The main point: everyone is dealing with e-commerce. Shoes, glasses, etc. ad nauseum. I guess that's somewhat comforting. 
> 
> Big companies will not miss the boat. Example: essilux. 
> 
> a. they're Rx devices, not shoes
> b. even if they were not Rx devices, they require custom measurements and aftercare


The big companies are in the business of dissuading the populace of exactly your 2 points. 100 years ago there were oodles of tailors, cobblers, jewelers, apothecaries, all ultimately providing products swaddled in extensive knowledge and service. At the time there was just no other way to get those things. Now there is, and all of those things can be casually and easily obtained completely divested from service; they have been commoditized.

There are of course still tailors, cobblers, and jewelers, but they serve only the custom niche market. Every tailor, cobbler, or jeweler will have a great list of reasons you should buy from them and how much superior their product and the surrounding service is than what you get in the mall or online. And I believe them. However, except in a rare case I doubt I will ever buy a tailored suit, custom made shoes, or bespoke jewely. I will buy off the rack, online from shoe vendors, and at the retail jewelry depots. What I get will not be the same, but it's good enough for my level of interest in those things, especially given the price gap. I don't disparage those custom things as overpriced, they ought to cost whatever people who want it will pay and whatever it takes to keep purveyors in business. But the good stuff just isn't worth it to *me*, I'm not their demographic.

Eyeglasses are halfway through the journey to the same result. There are lots of people for whom the quality and comfort of their vision just isn't a big priority, no matter how much we stamp our feet. They want a simple and easy solution to their vision needs, we aren't giving it to them, so there's the commodity market. Will the -1.00 sph OU who buys Warby Parker's enjoy an inexpensive, fun, easy vision solution? Yeah, probably. If $95 glasses is what they want, I let them, they are not my demographic. We still have enough demographic at this time in the journey to keep us plenty busy, but there is no long term solution that will prevent the opticians of tomorrow from becoming like the tailors, cobblers, and jewelers or today. We can't stop it, it's the inexorable progress of technology and economy. There will be a lot fewer of us in the future, and those that survive will be the ones that develop their niche and make themselves indispensable to those customers.

----------


## Lelarep

> ...I still think we don't go along with it, as a profession.  It's antithetical to what we are.


I wonder at what point fighting the tide of inevitability changes from being honorable to being insane...

I look forward to dancing on the grave of your luddite ideals in the not too distant future.

----------


## drk

You're weird.

----------


## Lelarep

> You're weird.


Flatterer.

----------


## Chris Ryser

> *Which builds his main point:
> 
> I**f glasses are going to be sold by the bushel full online, who's going to service them?
> **
> 
> My point is that:
> a. they're Rx devices, not shoes
> b. even if they were not Rx devices, they require custom measurements and aftercare
> 
> ...





drk start thinking hard,........................

It will be a totally natural, to service on line sold glasses at the newly acquired, over 1,000 store chain called "LensCrafters" within the USA and Canada. You might have heard of them.

They are well established and functioning, and can assume this new function at the stroke of a pen. They will charge a fee to the public, for servicing online purchased glasses which is also a natural. They now already own 17 of the larger online opticals. 

So they will be available on a computerized plan for a service charge, over their continent wide area:

Preservice: Taking needed measurements before purchase on line.

After Service: Checking, adjusting and follow ups on the same plan just for that. 

This will be continent wide, and all that is easily verified on their own corporation internet, and fully valid on a national or geographic level depending on the level the user has chosen and paid.

Walmart is now planning to enter the online market big time, over the next few months, and if they will sell Rx glasses on line which is just possible by now, and will follow above system, and declare their opticals also as service areas for online purchases, against a fee, and you will have a total service area that well covers the continent without you being part of it.

----------


## Chris Ryser

> *
> I still think we don't go along with it, as a profession.  It's antithetical to what we are.*




Goal of newly merged company

*ONLINE FOCUS
*
*Both companies have been grappling with slowing sales growth, hit by weakness in North America, and face rising competition from cheaper rivals and the challenge of online distribution.
*
*While Asia and Latin America are seen by the companies as potential growth markets, e-commerce will also be a top priority.*

source :   ===========>

*http://www.reuters.com/article/us-es...-idUSKBN14Z110*

----------


## drk

OK, Chris, you have me ready to "mansplain" your concept to us unwashed masses.  

I think it may have some merit.

Objective: Continue to provide materials and services 

Strategy: Decouple materials and services pricing

Tactics: Begin servicing outside jobs.  Pre- and after-service.  Establish a fee schedule.  Get customers used to paying for services.   Then offer materials, as well, at "suddenly" competitive prices.

That might just work.

----------


## drk

The fact is that any optician can compete on materials price, if there are no professional services involved.  

The problem has been the extreme shock of decoupling the services and the materials.

If we use this online piracy as an opportunity to decouple, then maybe that's lemonade.

----------


## optical24/7

You....

Will not....

Win.....

Competing on....


Price!


 .

----------


## drk

Doomsday scenario, only 24/7.

----------


## Stanley1993

So what I clearly understand is that I need to develop my business to take advantage of the new opportunities presented by the WEB based consumer. Like most everything the omni channel is developing - except as it appears in the independent optometry channel. How do we develop this? Who can we partner with to help us stay relevant to the emerging consumer? How can I secure my place?

stan

----------


## Chris Ryser

> Thread
> *Luxottica, Essilor in 46 billion euro merger deal to create eyewear giant: Sources
> *
> *Started by Chris Ryser, 01-15-2017 11:32 PM
> 
> ·Replies:....144….Views: 8,834, ..Stanley 1993, .01-26-2017, 11:39 
> 
> *


Above results have been achieved within a time period of some full 10 x 24 hour days, plus 30 minutes. If there would not have been some interest even after a few days the thread would have died, but reaching that number in that short time period was encouraging. 

All this without any significant posts, by the general OptiBoard membership, which has mostly either just watched or not, with the exception of a few more interested parties, that participatet.

For the last 2 days this thread was listed number 6 of a few hundred newspapers, on Google, under “news of the largest optical merger “.

----------


## Chris Ryser

> *OK, Chris, you have me ready to "mansplain" your concept to us unwashed masses.  
> **
> I think it may have some merit.
> **
> Objective: Continue to provide materials and services 
> 
> Strategy: Decouple materials and services pricing
> 
> Tactics: Begin servicing outside jobs.  Pre- and after-service.  Establish a fee schedule.  Get customers used to paying for services.   Then offer materials, as well, at "suddenly" competitive prices.
> ...



Thank you drk.........................

I will get back to this thread as soon as I can , and respond in my way, which will be probably by tomorrow.

----------


## rbaker

[QUOTE=DanLiv;532952]The big companies are in the business of dissuading the populace of exactly your 2 points. 100 years ago there were oodles of tailors, cobblers, jewelers, apothecaries, all ultimately providing products swaddled in extensive knowledge and service. At the time there was just no other way to get those things. Now there is, and all of those things can be casually and easily obtained completely divested from service; they have been commoditized.

There are of course still tailors, cobblers, and jewelers, but they serve only the custom niche market. Every tailor, cobbler, or jeweler will have a great list of reasons you should buy from them and how much superior their product and the surrounding service is than what you get in the mall or online. And I believe them. However, except in a rare case I doubt I will ever buy a tailored suit, custom made shoes, or bespoke jewely. I will buy off the rack, online from shoe vendors, and at the retail jewelry depots. What I get will not be the same, but it's good enough for my level of interest in those things, especially given the price gap. I don't disparage those custom things as overpriced, they ought to cost whatever people who want it will pay and whatever it takes to keep purveyors in business. But the good stuff just isn't worth it to *me*, I'm not their demographic.[/QUOTE]

I still wear a pair of boots that I had made in 1974 by Peter Limmer up in Intervale, NH at the princely cost of $350.00. We will be driving the motor up that way this summer and I will bring the boots along as they need resoling for the third time in the past 43 years. I will be wearing a pair of $8.00 flip flops from Walmart for most of the trip but I'll be lucky if they last the week. There is footwear and there is footwear. 

The point is, there is a need for both Limmer boots and flip flops and there is a place in the market for both. The pendulum has, in recent years, been swinging to the flip flop side of the arc but the point is; as an optician or optometrist what do you want to sell? Limmer boots or flip flops. 

If you really know your optical cookies and are dedicated to providing the highest level of customer service and have sufficient business acumen you can be a Peter Limmer.

----------


## Chris Ryser

> *The point is, there is a need for both Limmer boots and flip flops and there is a place in the market for both. The pendulum has, in recent years, been swinging to the flip flop side of the arc but the point is; as an optician or optometrist what do you want to sell? Limmer boots or flip flops. 
> 
> If you really know your optical cookies and are dedicated to providing the highest level of customer service and have sufficient business acumen you can be a Peter Limmer.*



There is a small sector left on the market for the Peter Limmers boot lovers, that is a fact. They can afford the best, want the best, and buy the best, and sell the best.

Dick, You should actually try to find somebody that will sell you a  brand new pair of high class boots in the same category, which would probably cost you $  750.00 on today's market, instead of having the old 47 year old ones re-soled.

Today's optical fashions are changing much faster than ever, that is also the goal of the large corporations. If the customer does not change fast enough, let them fall apart.

Since I had my cataract done a few years ago I can now wear some of the glasses from the old times because the Rx fits and the frames are the latest style again 

Even new optical cookies do not taste the same as they did some time ago.

----------


## Chris Ryser

> *OK, Chris, you have me ready to "mansplain" your concept to us unwashed masses.  
> 
> **I think it may have some merit.
> 
> Objective: Continue to provide materials and services 
> 
> Strategy: Decouple materials and services pricing
> 
> Tactics: Begin servicing outside jobs.  Pre- and after-service.  Establish a fee schedule.  Get customers used to paying for services.   Then offer materials, as well, at "suddenly" competitive prices.
> ...



If I put myself into the thinking process of today's electronics loving purchaser, I would appreciate that.

I would or could be tempted to purchase online, do it and hope the glasses would fit.

However if they don't, I can also go to the optical retailer and pay him/her to fix what is not perfect for the charge of their service.

The following time when glasses are needed I can get them at a similar price directly from them, plus the cost to service them.

All of it in the same place makes sense.

----------


## Chris Ryser

> *How do we develop this? Who can we partner with to help us stay relevant to the emerging consumer? How can I secure my place?
> 
> stan*



Interesting question ...................

You will need no partner, if you don't have one get a website, manage it yourself and learn all about it and direct it to your local traffic.

Keep it updated at all times, which is the most important advise I can give. Watch the ranking of the site and if it drops, correct it so it gets back into good, or top class ranking.

----------


## drk

Chris, are you "firmoo-ing" Optiboard?

----------


## optical24/7

If anybody thinks internut glasses is going to put them out of business, I suggest you think of what they _can't_ provide;

Personalized service

Truly medically needed Rx filling (Diplopia's, aniseikonia's, hemianopic's, low vision/high powers, ect.)

Unique frame selection 

*Ambience* 

Unique visual needs providing ( As example, Chem Clip used in unusual ways like make an occupational layer, a regressive, 3D, ect.) 

The most important thing they can't provide.....You! Be your own, one of a kind brand.


 There is no way anyone here can compete directly with a multi-billion dollar company online in any kind of sustainable way. It would be folly to even try. Find your niche, and be the best there is in it. And charge for your services!

----------


## rbaker

> Dick, You should actually try to find somebody that will sell you a  brand new pair of high class boots in the same category, which would probably cost you $  750.00 on today's market, instead of having the old 47 year old ones re-soled.


I don't need new boots.

In addition to replacing the heels and soles the boots will be refit and modified if necessary. When I head back down to heavens waiting room they will be just as good as the day I bought them.

 I wore them pretty much daily until 2006 and now only occasionally when we go gator hunting. A new pair today would set you back well over $750.00 but they do manufacture and sell premade boots for about $400.00.

I like to buy stuff just once if possible. I'm not cheap, I'm thrifty.

----------


## Chris Ryser

*INVESTOR ALERT: Levi & Korsinsky, LLP Notifies Shareholders of Luxottica 

Group of an Investigation Concerning the Fairness of the Sale of the Company to Essilor*
January 27, 2017 11:21 AM Eastern Standard Time
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The following statement is being issued by Levi & Korsinsky, LLP:

To: All Persons or Entities who purchased Luxottica Group (NYSE: LUX) stock prior to January 16, 2017.

*INVESTOR ALERT: Levi & Korsinsky, LLP Notifies Shareholders of Luxottica Group of an Investigation Concerning the Fairness of the Sale of the Company to Essilor*or contact Joseph E. Levi, Esq. either via email at jlevi@zlk.com or by telephone at (212) 363-7500,toll-free: (877) 363-5972. *Thereis no cost or obligation to you*.

*Levi & Korsinsky is a national firm withoffices in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Washington D.C.The firms attorneys have extensive expertise in prosecuting securitieslitigation involving financial fraud, representing investors throughout thenation in securities lawsuits and have* recovered hundreds ofmillions of dollars for aggrieved shareholders*. For more information,please feel free to contact any of the attorneys listed below. Attorneyadvertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes

* 
Source: ==========>
*http://www.businesswire.com/news/hom...s-Shareholders*

----------


## ak47

I have the utmost respect for anyone who hunts gators, I thought they only did that on TV.





> I don't need new boots.
> 
> In addition to replacing the heels and soles the boots will be refit and modified if necessary. When I head back down to heavens waiting room they will be just as good as the day I bought them.
> 
>  I wore them pretty much daily until 2006 and now only occasionally when we go gator hunting. A new pair today would set you back well over $750.00 but they do manufacture and sell premade boots for about $400.00.
> 
> I like to buy stuff just once if possible. I'm not cheap, I'm thrifty.

----------


## Lelarep

> I have the utmost respect for anyone who hunts gators, I thought they only did that on TV.


Where do you think TV got the idea from?

----------


## Chris Ryser

*Luxottica, Essilor in 46 billion euro merger deal to create eyewear giant: Sources
*
Started by Chris Ryser, 01-15-2017 11:32 PM


*Replies: 156….Views: 9,312…Lelarep 01-27-2017, 09:44 PM*


Above results have been achieved within a time period of a full 11 x 24 hour days, plus 30 minutes. If there would not have been some interest even after a few days the thread would have died soon, but reaching that number in that short time period was encouraging. 

All this without any significant posts, by the general OptiBoard membership, which has mostly either just watched or not, with the exception of a few more interested parties, that participated.

For the last 2 days this thread was listed number 6 on Google under “news of the largest optical merger “.

----------


## Chris Ryser

Anybody interested in learning more about this whole subject on internet commerce can access a free download by:

*Top 10 ConsumerTrends For 2017
*
*Euromonitor is our most valued partner and our key strategic source of information. You provide visibility outside of our core markets ... and a comprehensive understanding of competitors’strategies.
*
Consumers are now more demanding of products, services and brands than ever before and are using digital tools to articulate and fulfil their needs. The 2017 consumer is harder to characterise, not least because identity is multidimensional and in flux, with shoppers more likely to have a hand in defining themselves and their needs. They want safety and perceived volatile world, particularly for their nearest and dearest, and look to tech tools as aids in this quest. They want to shop faster and secure the swiftest convenience. They want authenticity in what they buy and expect elements of personalisation in mass produced as well as upscale items. Consumers who are “beyond average” in terms of size or dietary needs, for instance, are pushing to see their needs better met.


source and download at: =========>

http://go.euromonitor.com/wp_thank-y...liId=100369206

----------


## Chris Ryser

Above subject has already been picked up by he international press:

*Top consumer trends of 2017 revealed*By: Annelle Tayao-Juego - Reporter / @neltayao
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 12:00 AM January 20, 2017


Read more: https://business.inquirer.net/223172...#ixzz4X3SToBQH 

Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

----------


## Chris Ryser

> *There is no way anyone here can compete directly with a multi-billion dollar company online in any kind of sustainable way. It would be folly to even try. 
> 
> **Find your niche, and be the best there is in it. And charge for your services!*



optical24/7, thank you for finally agreeing to charge for services.

Only that way you will compete with the multi-billion dollar corporation as well as your earthly physical competitor around the corner if you are a better qualified and or experienced optician than him/her.

This thread contains enough material, if properly read and understood, that the world of optical dispensing is being rattled by a new consumer age group, as well as some corporations taking advantage of it, and the reason why.

----------


## Chris Ryser

> *Chris, are you "firmoo-ing" Optiboard?*



No drk, ..............I am not

I have not hijacked this thread, I have started it and added periodically new fuel, I found on the web, to the subject over the last 13 days.

There have been very few meaningless posts, but the thread that has been mostly informative in its way, and has had a big reaction in the form of attendance and views, which right now is at 9665. 

The news obviously has shaken the world of optics and the most interested lookers have deducted, that a public forum in the optical trade might just be the place, to find some answers and ideas on the subject.

This thread has also proven, that these major corporations are all out to concentrate on dominance of the optical retail trade on the internet, and so far already own the biggest block of them.

----------


## Chris Ryser

*DEPLOYING
OUR INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE*


The Essilor Group pursues a strategy of local partnerships to:
– strengthen our presence in all activities (corrective lenses, sun, online…),
– improve access to visual health throughout the world,
– meet new needs for vision correction, protection and prevention,
– create technological, industrial and commercial synergies.
These partnerships range from financial investment in distributors, industry players and laboratories toprograms in collaboration with NGOS and governments. *These provide a way to create or strengthen our presence on the ground, particularly in fast-growing markets*.

Respect, autonomy and synergy… We benefit from the local presence and expertise of our partners. In Return, we bring them the strength of our innovation and operational excellence. Our values and principles are embodied in all our daily interactions. A partnership charter, structured around 10 principles,formalises this relationship of mutual trust and respect.

Respect, autonomy and synergy… We benefitfrom the local presence and expertise of our partners. In return, we bring them the strength of our innovation and operational excellence. Our values and principles are embodied in all our daily interactions. A partnership charter,structured around 10 principles, formalises this relationship of mutual trust and respect.

Around the world, our multidisciplinary teams– researchers, developers, patent engineers, IP lawyers and specialists in strategic marketing – work in partnership with academia and industry. We pool together our work, exchange perspectives and combine expertise and technologies with public and private sector organisations to better meet the needs of all.

*The Essilor Group has forged more than twenty research partnerships with universities and public research* *organizations including the*the including the Vision Institute in Paris, CNRS, INSERM,Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, Universities of Shanghai and Wenzhou In China.The Group has also established joint ventures with other manufacturers through the Nikon-Essilor International Research Center with Nikon in Japan.

Source: =============>

https://www.essilor.com/en/the-group...y/partnerships

----------


## optical24/7

Chris, I don't think I've ever advocated for not charging for service. There very well may come a day that ECP's will need to breakdown charges, from warranties to services, but that day hasn't arrived yet, and I'm certainly not going to be the first on my block to do so. Though, if that's the direction our industry goes I can change policies in a day. My statement simply was meant to stop giving away particularly to customer whom don't buy from us.

I won't try to speak for other locations or markets, but the opposite of itemizing works best in my locations. We include trivex or 1.60 and AR on all our lenses ( we also do CR and other materials when appropriate). Our patient base likes bottom line pricing, not that your lenses are x, AR is x extra and lighter weight materials are also x extra. It's simply easier to sell best visual options as a package. We take no insurances and can charge less that our competitors that do. We even encourage price shoppers to compare our products and services, we simply ask they compare apples to apples. Some patients even find us lower in cost that a location that takes their insurance, especially using their out of network benefits.

We also can provide the most basic for cost conscious folks, but most of our clients can afford better and demand the best visual solution for their particular needs. The economy market just isn't our market.

----------


## Robert Martellaro

...the price of everything, and the value of nothing.

----------


## Chris Ryser

> *Chris, I don't think I've ever advocated for not charging for service. There very well may come a day that ECP's will need to breakdown charges, from warranties to services, but that day hasn't arrived yet, and I'm certainly not going to be the first on my block to do so. Though, if that's the direction our industry goes I can change policies in a day. My statement simply was meant to stop giving away particularly to customer whom don't buy from us.
> 
> I won't try to speak for other locations or markets, but the opposite of itemizing works best in my locations. 
> 
> We also can provide the most basic for cost conscious folks, but most of our clients can afford better and demand the best visual solution for their particular needs. The economy market just isn't our market.
> 
> *


optical24/7, thank you for stating your opinion on your own situation, in view of the coming threat announced by the newly formed and merged corporation.

This thread is not meant to argue who is right or who is wrong, or  has a better solution to counter an attack on our professional status quo, as it has existed for the last 200 years.'

We are all being affected by the new various trends coming up in the optical retail area that can, and is starting a chain reaction.

Anybody that is comfortable with their own commercial setup and and not worried about a future negative impact by on-line competition through some of their largest suppliers, directly or indirectly, is a happy and lucky person.

----------


## Chris Ryser

> *
> ...the price of everything, and the value of nothing.*



*Priceless: The Value of Nothing*


But is it true? Analyzing a cliché is even more treacherous than using one, but Wilde scored a nice coup with his, and in the interests of a vigorous debate Id like to join the yielding party for a moment.

For arguments sake, lets turn the phrase around. If a cynic knows the price of everything but the value of nothing, then a romantic must be a man who knows the _value_ of everything but the _price_ of nothing.

Could it be that this romantic outlook is inherently selfish? Certainly, the man who knows the value of everything is entitled to his opinion. The value of a Rembrandt may be, in his mind, incalculable. The value of a sunset inestimable, the value of open space immeasurable. But where do such value judgments leave the rest of us? His opinion would trump mine if he were somehow given the power of coercion, and the romantic would then gain the right to control access to this incalculably valuable resource. And is it really so far fetched to believe he could gain this power? Call me cynical if you will, but my memory brims with many a tale of individuals using the power of the state to deem something worthy of either public use or public exclusion.

see all of it: ==========>

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-s...b_1209623.html

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## Chris Ryser

*Industry Leaders Respond to Essilor-Luxottica Merger.*
Monday, January 30 2017 | 9 h 21 min | 


*Jason Kirk, Managing Director, Kirk & Kirk* 
“Eye Care Professionals need to make informed business decisions about what products they prescribe and what products they sell. The fact that two giants just got bigger should not affect those choices, although it does raise awareness of their dominance.

There is a very interesting challenge from which we must all learn; in general, the public know little about lenses and will be guided by their unerring confidence in the optician/optometrist, whether you recommend an Essilor product or any other. When it comes to frames, a hugely important styling decision, they have little confidence in a ‘scientist’ hiding behind a licensed ‘fashion’ brand, especially when your consumer is well-informed on products and competitive pricing. If you want to be an independent ECP, you need to be truly independent in all aspects of your work.”


January 24:
*Silvano (Syl) Ghirardi, Ophthalmic industry Executive (Retired)*

I have read the comments on the “Essilux” merger and I believe that all are playing it safe. There will be change and it will happen earlier than 5 years as people position themselves for the future earlier than later. The time for the OD/Opt. practice to plan is now, not later when it will result in reactive responses. It was mentioned that e-commerce market is plateauing. Nothing can be further from reality as new technology and the addition of branding will make it much easier for the consumer to order on line.

These comments will lull the optical industry into a sense of denial about the future.  It is not Essilor and Luxottica that created this market shift, they are merely proactively reacting to changes in the market and are positioning themselves for the future optical market.

It is well understood that the average OD practice “loses” 50%+ of the Rxs and these are filled by competitive channels. The OD has always used a differentiation strategy by offering quality products. But now Essilux will be able to offer quality, branded and promoted product to the patient, at market attractive prices that will be available at dispensaries or on-line. The practices will be under pressure to compete to deliver the same product at a competitive price and service. 
The practices need to develop a strategy that takes into consideration the market direction and the Essilux influence, now.

January 20:*GrantLarsen, President, Digital ECP Inc.**www.digitalecp.com

*
A$65 billion-dollar merger, 140,000 employees, thousands of retail locations in150 countries.  Anytime two companies of this size get together, in anyindustry, the numbers make headline news, and often with negativeundertones.  In Canada,it’s impossible to manage an optical store or work as an optician and not dealwith Essilor or Luxottica branded products, ever day.  Luxottica’s retailbrands, LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut, Pearle Vision and even glasses.com areformidable competitors to many opticians.  They also employ thousands ofCanadians and hundreds of licensed Opticians.  Essilor,Transitions and Clearly.com havea media presence familiar to many consumers searching for vision solutionsonline. So why does a consolidation of these giants evoke such a negativereaction?  Better yet, how will this help the optical industry in Canada?


Whentwo companies so different get together, the result is logically complementary.Consumers see lenses as functional and frames as emotional purchasedecisions.  When you combine branding from both companies, the presentationat retail brings clarity and trust to consumers in an ever confusing andfragmented market. We often say “quality and brands speak forthemselves”.  That being said, Essilor and Luxottica will have a lot totalk about and advertise in the coming years.  Their branded clout andmarket share size will stabilize branded value and the luxury eyewearmarket.  Good news as more and more price focused companies enter a veryattractive eye care industry.

How does the investment world view this merger?  Although still early, both Essilor and Luxottica share values have increased post-announcement by as much as 8%.  The global eye care market is forecasted to grow at more than 5% annually through 2020.  Luxottica and Essilor have made significant investments into market expansion, global manufacturing, online channels and technology research.  Investments and learning they undoubtable will share to capitalize and grow their current estimated market share of 27%. With the next largest company in global eye care at barely 4% (J&J), you can bet on other companies seeking alliances or mergers to gain some competitive advantage or build investor interest.

So how do small independent retailers, consumers or eye care competitors benefit?  First of all, lets keep this in perspective.  You will see very little change in either company in 2017.  Some of the more complicated relationships between retailers, online and vision plans (EyeMed) will take longer than that.  Brand availability, pricing, policy changes, sales representation will change to build the synergies between both companies, but they will appear to be separate for years to come. So, for now this is a little like when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie first started dating.  Lots of headlines, a whole lot of speculation, plenty of fake stories and pent up anticipation for what’s next.

Sometimes we forget how big this industry is, even in Canada.  Many thought online retailers would bankrupt half of the independent bricks and mortar stores when they launched 10 years ago.  Yet online is less than 6% of all eyeglass sales globally and appears to be plateauing. With so many branded choices, complicated technology and eye health implications, consumers remind us, time and again, how much they rely on your expertise.  Buying eyeglasses is not a transaction.  Opticians are critical to selling brands, getting the most from lens technology, protecting eye health and creating better vision.  That can only be done by a local, trusted, eye care professional.

January 18:
*Robert Grimard, O.O.D., owner of several optical offices in Quebec, Manitoba and New Brunswick, 
*has kindly given us his comments on the “megafusion”  that has just been announced between Essilor and Luxottica:

“In my opinion, it is in the order of things. We are witnessing a merger that was to happen between two complementary partners, lenses and frames. It was therefore very predictable especially since the company Essilor was already involved in the distribution of frames in the early 1990s and that it had abandoned it to concentrate on the lenses. All of this is normal. We live in a world of global acquisitions and mergers in all fields and optics are part of it!

As retailers, we have already witnessed many other mergers that have not changed much in our daily lives. And I do not think we see the effects of the EssilorLuxottica merger for several years. Because I understand that the two companies will continue to operate independently and I do not see how that would affect us in the immediate future. Unless Luxottica wants to return with a distribution center in Canada? That would give us better service …

To conclude, in this merger, I see only positive, but probably not before 5 years. The optical model is changing  and evolving.  I would say it’s very refreshing and exciting to see our industry moving! ”


January 16:
*Robert Dalton:  Executive Director  Opticians Association of Canada*

“The trend of mergers and acquisitions continues in the global economy and the Optical industry is no exception. The merger of Essilor and Luxottica will create a massive 55 billion CDN international company focused on eye wear and all that it encompasses. The workforce of 140,000 includes a large number of opticians who offer vision care services in Luxottica’s retail sector and serve as consultants and managers in the Essilor labs, lens divisions and marketing sectors.

The Opticians Association of Canada has traditionally had a great relationship with both Luxottica and Essilor. Their support of the OAC and recognition of opticians’ skills in the delivery of vision care services is a testament to that dedication. The OAC hopes this merger will solidify the relationship and deepen both companies commitment to deliver safe and effective vision care through the services of Licensed Opticians.

The merger is expected to have little effect on our independent Optician owners as the segment of the population who are requesting custom personalized services and/or alternative eyewear selections is growing and the boutique experience can offer choice to that demography. Speaking to our young entrepreneurial Opticians out there, we can only wait and see what new innovative business ideas will be created in light of this continued competition. 

The OAC continues to monitor all business developments internationally and locally. We believe in collaboratively working together with all eye care professionals and industry to ensure the safe delivery of the highest quality of vision care services. ”

source:  ==========>
https://infoclip.ca/en/industry-lead...xottica-merger

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## Chris Ryser

*Luxottica Nabs Brazil's Oticas Carol In $117M Deal*By *Chelsea Naso

*Law360, New York (January 30, 2017, 2:07 PM EST) -- Luxottica inked a 110 million ($117 million) deal on Monday for prescription frames and sunglasses retailer Óticas Carol, paving the way for the Italian eyewear company to strengthen its position in Brazil just two weeks after unveiling a combination with Frances Essilor.

The plans to expand its footprint in Brazil come after Luxottica Group S.p.A. and France-based Essilor announced earlier this month that they planned to merge to create a $49 billion eyewear giant with strengths in both production and distribution.

The acquisition of Óticas Carol.


Source: ==========è

*https://www.law360.com/articles/8860...l-in-117m-deal*

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## Chris Ryser

*Luxottica, Essilor in 46 billion euro merger deal to create eyewear giant: Sources*Started by Chris Ryser, 01-15-2017 11:32 PM

·                         Replies:168
·                          
·                         Views: 10,705

Date :  January 31. 2017,   5.12 am

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## Chris Ryser

*THE ESSILOR INTERNATIONAL SA (EI) RECEIVES NEUTRAL RATING FROM GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC.*Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of Essilor International SA (EPA:EI) in a report released on Wednesday.
Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on EI. Jefferies Group set a 121.00 ($130.11) price target on Essilor International SA and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, October 25th. S&P Global Inc. set a 118.00 ($126.88) target price on Essilor International SA and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, January 16th. Kepler Capital Markets set a 140.00 ($150.54) target price on Essilor International SA and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a 94.00 ($101.08) target price on Essilor International SA and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, January 5th. Finally, HSBC Holdings plc set a 125.00 ($134.41) target price on Essilor International SA and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, December 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Essilor International SA currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of 117.00 ($125.81).


Essilor International SA (EPA:EI) opened at 107.75 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of 23.19 billion and a P/E ratio of 29.76. Essilor International SA has a 12-month low of 93.41 and a 12-month high of 124.55. The company has a 50-day moving average price of 105.50 and a 200-day moving average price of 109.96.
About Essilor International SA
Essilor International SA, formerly Essilor International Compagnie Generale DOptique SA, is an ophthalmic optics company. The Company designs, manufactures and markets a range of lenses to improve and protect eyesight. It also develops and markets equipment for prescription laboratories, and instruments and services for eye care professionals.

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## Chris Ryser

Essilor has formed a new partnership by taking a 50% stake in Photosynthesis Group, a Hong Kong-based company that markets sunglasses and corrective lenses under a range of banners including MJS. It primarily operates through a network of franchised shopping mall stores in China and has begun expanding abroad in Southeast Asia. The partnership will help to drive faster growth in the Chinese optical industry, while enabling Essilor to broaden its footprint in the promising sunwear segment.

Separately, Essilor has also agreed to purchase a 55% equity interest in Jiangsu Creasky Optical, an ophthalmic lens manufacturer and distributor based in Danyang, China. Jiangsu Creasky Optical employs more than 300 people and primarily serves the domestic market. Its acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, is designed to expand Essilor’s offering in the Chinese mid-range segment.

Together, these two partnerships attest to Essilor’s strong acquisitions dynamic in 2016, which is expected to result in a scope effect of around 4% for the year.

On a like-for-like basis, revenue growth is now projected to end the year at around 3.5%, reflecting the temporary slowdown in the ophthalmic optical market in the United States – the Company’s largest market – and several other leading geographies, as well as the October revenue performance.

The solid growth anticipated therefore in full-year revenue at constant exchange rates reflects the strengthening of the Company’s positions across the global marketplace.
Lastly, contribution from operations1 is now expected to stand at around 18.5% of revenue, primarily due to the slower than expected like-for-like growth and the dilution from the sustained acquisitions dynamic.

In 2017 and the years ahead, Essilor will pursue its mission to improving visual health by strategically expanding in prescription lenses, sunwear and online sales. It remains confident in its ability to seize the wide variety of growth opportunities offered by the optical market, where demand is being driven by durable, robust fundamentals.

source ===========>
https://www.essilor.com/en/medias/pr...-expands-china

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## Chris Ryser

*Luxottica, Essilor in 46 billion euro merger deal to create eyewear giant: Sources*

Started by Chris Ryser, 01-15-2017 11:32 PM

· Replies:      171
· 
· Views:   10,978

Date : February 01. 2017, 5.40 am

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## Chris Ryser

*
What Lies Beneath Luxottica And Essilor’s €50bn Merger
Francesco Bertozza       January 31st, 2017*



In January 2017, Luxottica Group, the world’s largest eyewear company, and the leading ophthalmic lens manufacturer Essilor announced a €50bn deal that will lead to the creation of a group with combined revenues of more than €15bn, 140,000 employees and sales in over 150 different markets. This is the second-largest cross-border M&A deal in Europe’s history and is expected to have a huge impact on the dynamics of the fast-growing eyewear industry.

*The Eyewear Industry*

Luxottica is the leader of the eyewear industry with a 14% market share. The Italian company owns Ray-Ban and Oakley and makes frames for brands like Armani, Prada and Chanel. According to 2015 Euromonitor International’s report, Luxottica’s closest rival was Essilor, with a 13% market share, whereas competitors were lagging behind – Johnson & Johnson’s 3.9% market share is a clear example.

The combined company, to be known as EssilorLuxottica, would be by far the largest player in the eyewear market, relying on Luxottica’s retail network, manufacturing lenses for both glasses and sunglasses, as well as designing and producing frames. Another possible issue for Luxottica’s competitors could be represented by Essilor being a supplier of lenses for most of their manufacturing.

It is believed that the agreement will deeply affect the global eyewear industry, which is worth about $121bn according to data from Euromonitor, and is considered one of the sectors with the highest growth opportunities. The prospects for the industry are positive, with a growth rate of over 2% expected in the industry by 2020.

The trend is being boosted by lifestyle changes due to urbanization, an aging population, awareness of visual impairment and ofsun-related eye damage, and a rising middle class in emerging markets(especially in Asia and Latin America). Of the 7.2 billion-strong world population, it has been noticed that 2.5 billion still need vision correction and about 5.8 billion people need UV protection for their eyes –definitely a huge market for the new giant EssilorLuxottica.

*$121bn    * is the value of the global eyewear industry


*Reasons behind the Merger

Despite the strong market power held by Luxottica and Essilor, and the positive trends in the eyewear industry, both companies have been struggling with slowing sales growth over the past few years, hit byrising competition from cheaper rivals and by the challenge posed by online distribution channels. The deal is aimed at creating an entity able to address growing eye care needs by exploiting the natural synergies between the two companies.

This takeover would allow the combined group to better addressthe growth opportunities resulting from strong demand in the eyewear market,which is being driven by increasing demand for corrective lenses and protective glasses

The merger is expected to create synergies both in revenues and in costs ranging from €400m to €600m but also to remove the uncertainty related to the Luxottica’s leadership succession plans. The governance of the company will be equally shared by Luxottica CEO Leonardo Del Vecchio and HubertSagnières, the CEO of Essilor who will take the role of vice-chairman and deputy CEO of the new entity.

**A Wider Plan

Since 2014, Luxottica has gone through three different CEOs,generating investor concerns that have hit the company’s share value. The Merger with Essilor could represent an effective solution to the uncertainty created over the last two years, considering the 20-year age difference betweenMr Del Vecchio and Mr Sagnières.


The deal can also be considered a response to the change instrategy of the two large French luxury groups Kering and LVMH. Reports suggest that LVMH may be interested in buying 10% of Marcolin Group, an Italian eyewear company owned by the French private equity firm PAI Partners. The LVMH agreement could also involve investment in Marcolin operations and eventually led to the creation of a new company in order to fully internalise its eyewear business, following Kering’s example.*

*This decision is part of a wider trend thatis seeing luxury brands vertically integrate their suppliers in order to getmore control over their own products and brand image. Luca Solca,a luxury goods analyst at Exane BNP Paribas, said:
“If confirmed,the deal could mean that LVMH is preparing to integrate vertically in the eyewear business through the acquisition of production capacity from Marcolinas well as a distribution network similar to Kering eyewear.”tweet

Given the possible future threat represented by luxury brands taking control of their eyewear business, Luxottica-Essilor deal might be seen as a defensive move aimed at protecting Luxottica’s current unquestioned leadership in the eyewear market from these possible future scenarios.*

*
**Cultural Integration*

*From a strategic point of view, the merger seems quite natural: Essilor’s lens-making business goes perfectly with Luxottica’s frames manufacturing ability and retail presence. The real challenge would be to achieve a profitable cultural integration of the two companies since Essilor See itself as a high-tech medical company aimed at “improving lives byimproving sight” whereas Luxottica is more focused on the design of its frames that are almost seen as fashion items.

The biggest opportunity of the merger could be to combine these two different approaches to the eyewear business, a classic trade-off between function and aesthetics. If achieved, this cultural integration could create extraordinary value for stakeholders and differentiate Essilor Luxottica s offer from that of luxury groups such as Kering and LVMH.


source: ==========>

http://themarketmogul.com/what-lies-...s-e50bn-merger 


*

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## Chris Ryser

*Amount of LensCrafters retail Stores now under the Flag of Essilux*

In 2006, Luxottica began to expand the LensCrafters brand in China by acquiring and then rebranding local retail chains in Beijing, Shanghai,Guangdong and Hong Kong.

In 2015, Luxottica expanded its relationship with Macy’s with an agreement to open up to 500 LensCrafters stores in Macy’s locations around the United States By 2018.

 The Group is also rolling out a new global design format aimed at creating a more modern and engaging experience for consumers. The first newly-designed and Macy’s locations will be opened in 2016.

*As of December 31, 2015, the Group operated a retail network of 1,222 LensCrafters stores, of which 933 are in North America and the other 289 stores are in China and Hong Kong.

*Source: ==========>
http://www.luxottica.com/en/retail-brands/lenscrafters

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## Chris Ryser

*Form 425 LUXOTTICA GROUP SPA Filed by: ESSILOR INTERNATIONAL /FI**February 1, 2017 9:50 AM EST* Filed by Essilor International SA pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and deemed filed pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b)(2) of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

Subject Company: Luxottica Group S.p.A.
Commission File Number: 1  10421

source:  =========>
*http://www.streetinsider.com/SEC+Fil.../12484920.html*

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## Steve Machol

Chris with all due respect can you please not dominate this thread with links from other sites? Thank you.

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## IC-UC

> *Form 425 LUXOTTICA GROUP SPA Filed by: ESSILOR INTERNATIONAL /FI*
> 
> *February 1, 2017 9:50 AM EST* 
> 
> Filed by Essilor International SA pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and deemed filed pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b)(2) of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
> 
> Subject Company: Luxottica Group S.p.A.
> Commission File Number: 1  10421
> 
> ...


This is a rather bold statement from the company....."24hrs" sounds good in principle, and they must be speaking about grind jobs, otherwise Luxottica and/or Essilor really has a problem if they have a 8 day turnaround for stock!
_We have no particular interest in accelerat__ing movement for economic or industrial reasons,_ explains the head of Essilor. _This is a growth project  we are aiming to improve__ the quality of the products and services provided worldwide__._*Thus, an optician will be able to procure eyeglass lenses and frames within twenty-four hours rather than eight days*, _a true competitive advantage._

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## Chris Ryser

> *Chris with all due respect can you please not dominate this thread with links from other sites? Thank you.
> *



Steve, I thought that covering the greatest merger ever, in the optical industry would be of general interest for everybody in this field, as shown in the OptiBoard "views" counter over the last 15 days.

I will immediately stop posting any outside links on this subject, and I apologize for any inconvenience created.

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## Chris Ryser

> *I will immediately stop posting any outside links on this subject, .........................
> *



Just for general information, I had posted a link to OptiBoard on my website's main page, promoting the merger news, and its coverage on OptiBoard on January 28. This link on my site was removed immediately after seeing and responding to the previous post.

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## Chris Ryser

*

News Release: Proposed combination of Essilor and Luxottica progressing

*GlobeNewswire •  March 23, 2017


Proposed combination 
of Essilor and Luxottica progressing

·                         Signature of the contribution agreements
·                         Structuring of EssilorLuxottica
·                         Adoption of the future governance of Essilor                           International

*Charenton-le-Pont, France (March 23, 2017 - 5:45 pm)* *-* Having obtained the favorable opinions of the employee representative bodies on the proposed combination with Luxottica announced on January 16, 2017, and with the overwhelming support of Valoptec Association, an organization that brings together most of Essilor`s employee shareholders (accounting for approximately 8% of the share capital), Essilor International has taken another step towards the finalization of the transaction.

As such, at its meeting of March 22, 2017, the Board of Directors of Essilor International approved:

1. The signing of the draft contribution agreements relating to:
·                         the transfer by Essilor International of substantially all of its activities and shareholdings to its fully-owned subsidiary, Delamare Sovra, to be renamed Essilor International;
·                         the contribution by Delfin of all its shares in Luxottica (62.55%)[1] in exchange for new shares issued by Essilor, based on an exchange ratio of 0.461 Essilor share for one Luxottica share.

BNP Paribas conducted an appraisal of this contribution and issued a fairness opinion.

2. The filing and registration with the _Autorité des Marchés Financiers_, by April 10, 2017 at the latest, of the information document (Document E) describing the rationale for the transaction as well as the main principles of the Combination Agreement, namely: the creation of a global integrated player via the combination of two complementary players, as part of a partnership approach based on an equal structuring between the two parties. In accordance with what was announced on January 16, 2017, Essilor, the acquirer of the Luxottica shares and to be renamed EssilorLuxottica, will be listed on Euronext Paris and will retain its registered office in France. The management structures and teams - in particular financial - of the new combined entity will be based in France.

3. Draft resolutions relating to the proposed combination of Essilor International and Luxottica to be submitted for the approval of the General Shareholders` Meeting of May 11, 2017 and in particular the names of the directors who would, subject to shareholder approval, sit on the Board of Directors of EssilorLuxottica as of the closing date of the Luxottica share contribution, namely:

·                         Eight members appointed by Delfin:

·                                           Leonardo Del VECCHIO, Executive Chairman and CEO of EssilorLuxottica;
·                                           Three directors representative of Delfin: Romolo BARDIN, Giovanni GIALLOMBARDO and Francesco MILLERI;
·                                           Four additional directors: Rafaella MAZZOLI, Gianni MION, Lucia MORSELLI and Cristina SCOCCHIA.
·                         Leonardo Del VECCHIO, Executive Chairman and CEO of EssilorLuxottica;
·                         Three directors representative of Delfin: Romolo BARDIN, Giovanni GIALLOMBARDO and Francesco MILLERI;
·                         Four additional directors: Rafaella MAZZOLI, Gianni MION, Lucia MORSELLI and Cristina SCOCCHIA.

·                         Eight members appointed by Essilor Interational:

·                                           Hubert SAGNIÈRES, Executive Vice-Chairman and Deputy CEO of EssilorLuxottica;

·                                           Juliette FAVRE, Employee Shareholder Representative and Chairman of Valoptec Association;
·                                           Four directors from the current Board of Directors of Essilor: Henrietta FORE, Bernard HOURS, Annette MESSEMER and Olivier PÉCOUX;

·                                           Two directors representing employees who will be appointed by the Works Council by the end of October 2017.

4. Changes to Essilor International`s governance at the close of the General Shareholders` Meeting of May 11, 2017 (subject to Shareholders` approval) with the appointments of:

·                         Jeannette WONG, a DBS Group Executive, appointed on a provisional basis to the Board of Directors of Essilor International as from March 22, 2017, with her appointment to be submitted for ratification by the General Shareholders` Meeting, to replace Benoît BAZIN who expressed his wish to have his term of office as Director terminated. The Board of Directors would like to thank him for his significant contribution over the past 8 years;

·                         Laurent VACHEROT, President and Chief Operating Officer of Essilor since December 6, 2016.

Subject to shareholder approval, following the General Shareholders` Meeting of May 11, 2017 the Board of Directors of Essilor International will consist of the following members:

·                         Hubert SAGNIÈRES, Chairman and CEO of Essilor International(2)
·                         Philippe ALFROID, Non-independent Director([2])
·                         Antoine BERNARD DE SAINT-AFFRIQUE, Independent Director
·                         Maureen CAVANAGH, Director representing employee shareholders
·                         Juliette FAVRE, Director representing employee shareholders(2)
·                         Henrietta FORE, Independent Director
·                         Louise FRÉCHETTE, Independent Director
·                         Yi HE, Director representing employee shareholders(2)
·                         Frank HENRIONNET, Director representing employees
·                         Bernard HOURS, Independent Director
·                         Annette MESSEMER, Independent Director
·                         Marc ONETTO, Independent Director
·                         Olivier PECOUX, Non-independent Director
·                         Laurent VACHEROT, President and Chief Operating Officer of Essilor        International([3])
·                         Jeanette WONG, Independent Director(3)


Composition of the Board of Directors of the new Essilor International (formerly Delamare Sovra) as of the closing date of the Luxottica share contribution:
The composition of the Board of Directors would be identical to the above, with the Director representing employees being selected from among the two Directors representing employees sitting on the EssilorLuxottica Board of Directors.

*Next steps* 
Essilor International will hold two Shareholders` Meetings (Special Meeting of holders of shares with double voting rights attached and Combined General Shareholders` Meeting) on May 11, 2017. 

*In addition, discussions concerning the notification process of the transaction to anti-trust authorities are progressing.* 


Source: =============>

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/news-r...164701624.html

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## jonah

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-lu...KCN1BM20B?il=0

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## Chris Ryser

> *http://www.reuters.com/article/us-lu...KCN1BM20B?il=0
> *





> *The move suggests the European Commission wants concessions to address their concerns and that they could open an in-depth investigation if these are not given or seen as insufficient.
> 
> Luxottica declined to comment. Essilor was not immediately available for comment.
> *



and the saga continues in its fullest and all is recorded on Optiboard.

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