MyOptique Group = Glasses Direct, = now purchased by Essilor .......................

[Chris Ryser]

The MyOptique Group acquired by Essilor International

MyOptique management will remain, benefiting from Essilor’s global supply chain to improve its reach across Europe

by Henry Williams
Updated: Aug 16, 2016 Published: Aug 16, 2016

The MyOptique Group, a UK-based online glasses retailer, has been acquired by French ophthalmic lens producer EssilorInternational.
Founded in 2004 by Young Gun Jamie Murray-Wells as Glasses Direct, The MyOptique Group operates six online retail brands selling everything from prescription glasses to contact lenses and sunglasses.


It claims to have seen double-digit growth every year for the last eight, shipping more than 280 million contact lenses, seven million glasses and sunglasses and hitting revenues of £56 m.


The deal will see MyOptique’s management remain in place, leveraging Esslior’s global supply chain and collaborating with its other businesses to enhance its market position in Europe.


Kevin Cornils, CEO of MyOptique,commented: “This transaction represents a major milestone for the MyOptiqueGroup. Our new ownership provides a tremendous platform from which to continueto build a very successful business on our proven multi-category, multi-brandmodel.”

Fergal Mullen, partner at HighlandCapital Europe, added: “From day one when the original GlassesDirect businesswas founded by Jamie Murray Wells when he was still at university, this hasbeen an extraordinary business with big ambitions.
“As part of Essilor the company is on afirm foundation on which to move to the next level. This is a true Europeansuccess story and we at Highlandare very proud to have been part of it.

copied from: =================>
http://startups.co.uk/the-myoptique-...-international

[Don Gilman]

Keep on buying all there products so they can buy more.

[Chris Ryser]

Glasses Direct and Sunglasses Shop owner sold to eyewear giant Essilor

Kate Palmer, business reporter
16 AUGUST 2016 • 2:35PM

MyOptique, the online eyewear retailer behind Glasses Direct and the Sunglasses Shop, has been bought by glasses giant Essilor.

The retailer, which began in a barn in Wiltshire in 2004, has been sold to the French publicly listed company by a slew of institutional investors - including Acton, Beringea, Highland Capital, Index Ventures, Cipio Partners and Korys - in a deal thought to be worth £120m.

The business was set up by Jamie Murray Wells while he was studying English at the University of the West of England, after he reckoned his Glasses Direct website could undercut high street opticians.
Mr Murray Wells, who won an OBE last year, sold off the business in a series of funding rounds between 2007 and 2015.

“No one was selling glasses over the internet,” said Mr Murray Wells, who left the retailer in 2013 for a senior retail job at Google. “I set the website up with the help of developers at university and worked from my parent’s house. It’s amazing to see how far it’s grown.”

The business later branched out from prescription glasses to designer shades and contact lenses, now selling eyewear in more than 50 countries. The firm, which is run by chief executive Kevin Cornils, appointed advisers to look into an initial public offering in 2013 but decided against a float.
Mr Cornils, who joined in 2009 after jobs at AOL and Match.com, said the sale to Essilor was another “tremendous milestone” for MyOptique, which recently bought designer retailer Eyewearbrands and German rival 4care, and now turns over £57m a year.

Fergal Mullen, a partner at Highland Europe, which was MyOptique’s first institutional investor in 2007, said it took “a lot longer than we expected” to build up the business due to the quirks of selling glasses online.

“It’s not like selling a pair of shoes, this is something that’s going to sit on your face,” he said. “There are extra barriers such as people needing a medical prescription before they buy.”

The businesshas gone head-to-head with traditional opticians such as Specsavers and VisionExpress, for example by offering a “try before you buy” service that postscustomers six pairs of glasses they can wear and return.
The businesshas gone head-to-head with traditional opticians such as Specsavers and VisionExpress, for example by offering a “try before you buy” service that postscustomers six pairs of glasses they can wear and return.
Essilor, which has its own onlineretail business and makes lenses for shops including MyOptique, is listed onthe Paris stock exchange with a market cap of around €24bn (£21bn).
The Charenton-le-Pont-based companyposted €6.7bn sales last year and pre-tax profits of €1.1bn.

[Lab Insight]

Keep on buying all there products so they can buy more.

While eliminating B&M locations. ECP's supporting them need to give their heads a shake.

[Mariah]

My blood is boiling. I am not using Essilor more than I have to.

[Quantrill]

I didn't think there were any non-Essilor products left!

[Chris Ryser]

Nobody seems to have given or mentioned a political thought on what has happened to the optical retail industry with this recent purchase of this large on-line optical.

The trend to dominate the optical retail market by a few manufacturers has strengthened again their position by investing millions of Dollars into the purchase of more online retailers.

These corporations not only try hard to control the on-line retail market they also work hard on a political level to deregulate the optical retail. The latest one is the Province of Quebec a few month ago, that has become an open territory for online optical retailers.

[IC-UC]

Nobody seems to have given or mentioned a political thought on what has happened to the optical retail industry with this recent purchase of this large on-line optical.

The trend to dominate the optical retail market by a few manufacturers has strengthened again their position by investing millions of Dollars into the purchase of more online retailers.

These corporations not only try hard to control the on-line retail market they also work hard on a political level to deregulate the optical retail. The latest one is the Province of Quebec a few month ago, that has become an open territory for online optical retailers.

This is/should be a big concern for everyone in the industry. Deregulation here has lead to untold pressure back on the labs to fix up issues relating to bad dispensing