This year is shaping up to be one of the most active in optical company buyouts, with Rodenstock, then Bausch & Lomb, to be superseded in shock value by Oakley joining Ray-Ban as a stable-mate thanks to Luxottica's $2.1bn move last week.
There is seemingly no stopping the Luxottica purchasing machine. Fancy a brand, it will get it. Fancy a company, it will follow. Oakley prided itself on doing things its own way and became acquisitive itself last year on buying Oliver Peoples. Earlier this year it announced it was focusing on the optics side to its business, perhaps in a move to make itself more appealing.
The optical rumour mill at first linked Luxottica with Alain Mikli, which was refuted, and then moved on to Oakley, which makes sense for the Italian giant. Luxottica already did major business with its rival via Sunglass Hut, a recent Financial Times report (June 12) attributing 5-6 per cent of Oakley's annual sales to Luxottica.
While Luxottica now has a stronger hold in sports eyewear, and is the industry's number one player according to Bloomberg (June 21), where does it leave independent opticians? They will be further tied to a company that is buying into retail worldwide, although fears that Oakley will become just another Luxottica brand name seem unfounded as it will carry on as a separate entity.
Looking on the bright side, if Luxottica's recent Ray-Ban support is anything to go by, practitioners could experience increased demand for Oakley product thanks to the might of the new parent.