A deafening silence has accompanied the optical mega-merger of the century which saw Essilor and Luxottica announce their decision to join forces.
If approvals allow, the combined force would command anywhere between 15 and 25% of the optical market. The numbers involved are staggering: 140,000 staff, €15bn income, €3.5bn operating profit, €45bn market capitalisation.
Some estimates suggest the combination will command more than half of the sunglass market. Amazingly there is little other overlap between the two businesses but savings of up to €600m have been identified bringing a smile to the spreadsheets of the analysts.
Given the scale of those numbers it’s not surprising that the two giants are hiding their light under a bushel, pending approval. But it’s important that a deal which will create such an optical colossus should be discussed.
Optician’s website and our In Focus last week are perhaps the only readily available sources of pertinent information for the practice owner. It strikes me as strange, given the grilling Essilor was subjected to for its foray into the online market, that so little noise, publicly at least, has been generated by the news or so little has been said by the optical associations.
Early opinion seems to suggest approval will be forthcoming. Attention will now turn to what Doug Perkins alluded to in our In Focus last week – the end game.
For EssilorLuxottica the end game means a retail channel, either built or bought. In today’s world that means an optical omnichannel, an integrated, customer-engaging, clicks and bricks solution where a complete product is surfed for and mailed out or picked up in practice.
The question you should be asking is will that practice be yours?