Optical giants merge

Pearle Europe and GrandVision are combining their activities, creating what parent company HAL Holding described as the second largest optical retail company in the world.

HAL, whose GrandVision subsidiaries include Vision Express and Batemans Optical, said the combined company would have more than 4,000 stores in 40 countries and group sales of more than €2.5bn.

HAL added that the individual country operations would benefit from economies of scale of the larger international organisation, with an emphasis going forward on decentralisation.

The parent company of the combination will be based at Schiphol in The Netherlands and named GrandVision BV.

Theo Kiesselbach, who has been chief executive officer of GrandVision in Paris since 2006, will be appointed CEO of the combined company, while Ed Visser, chief financial officer of Pearle Europe and co-interim CEO, will become the new CFO.