Essilor aquires another bunch of Labs.....................

[Chris Ryser]

Press Release

Essilor Acquires Prescription Laboratories in the United Kingdom and the United States


Charenton-le-Pont, France (December 6, 2007 – 6:30 am) – Essilor has strengthened its prescription laboratory network in Europe with the acquisition of majority stakes in Sinclair Optical Services and United Optical, two independent laboratories in the United Kingdom. The Company has also acquired Premier Optics, Inc., Gold Optical Enterprises, Inc. and GK Optical in the United States.

Based in Gloucester, England, Sinclair Optical serves the entire English market with a broad array of products that includes stock lenses, prescription lenses and surface treatments. Its full-year sales amount to €8 million.

United Optical is located in Belfast, North Ireland. It also operates a subsidiary in Athlone, Ireland that specializes in the edging and mounting of prescription safety lenses. United Optical generates full-year revenue of around €5.8 million
.
In the United States, Essilor of America has acquired the assets of Premier Optics, Inc. and Gold Optical Enterprises, Inc., two prescription laboratories located, respectively, in Belmont and Fayetteville, North Carolina. Essilor has also acquired GK Optical, a group of two prescription laboratories in Greenwood and Fort Wayne, Indiana. The three companies’ combined full-year revenue totals $8.5 million.

[Jubilee]

Yeah I learned about this yesterday from my GK rep :(

How sad, I loved the fact they were independent and our businesses have partnered together for over 20 years..

Supposedly nothing will change over the course of the next 6 months, but we will see what happens.

Cassandra