Essilor has signed a share purchase agreement to acquire a 'significant' ownership stake in lens supplier Wholesale Lens Corporation (WLC) based in Croydon, Surrey.
The French lens manufacturer did not indicate either the size of the stake or the price it would pay and said the agreement needed approval by the competition commission.
Speaking to Optician WLC's managing director David Lever stressed that the company had not been bought out by Essilor.
'It's a very positive scenario, we are in a partnership relationship with Essilor and the business is still going to continue to be run in the same form that it was in the past. The directors are still in the business and will remain in the business.'
Essilor also stated that WLC, which had revenue of £8.4m in 2008, would continue to be run as a standalone business.
Philippe Alfroid, Essilor's chief operating officer, told analysts in a conference call in April that Essilor was counting on additional takeovers to bolster its revenue since clients were postponing frame and lens purchases in response to the recession.