Acquisition of Ego Eyewear

By

Regulatory News | 23 Dec, 2021

Updated : 07:00

RNS Number : 5591W
Inspecs Group PLC
23 December 2021
 

23 December 2021

 

Inspecs Group plc

("Inspecs", the "Company" or "the Group")

 

Acquisition of Ego Eyewear

 

Inspecs Group plc is pleased to announce that it has completed the acquisition of Ego Eyewear Limited ("Ego Eyewear", "Ego"). Ego Eyewear is a design and licensing company and uses third party eyewear manufacturers to produce premium fashion brands. Its prestigious design house is based in Stockholm, and it also has operations in London, Osaka and Hong Kong.

Ego's licensed brands include Barbour, Liberty of London, Viktor & Rolf, Lyle & Scott, Henry Lloyd and Joseph, and Nordic brands Ivana Helsinki, Valerie and Day. Ego's main distribution channel is through major optical chains. The company is run by second generation eyewear veterans Ronald and Johanna Gezang, who are known for their innovative and creative designs.

Inspecs Group plc has acquired 100% of Ego Eyewear Limited and its operating subsidiaries in Sweden and Hong Kong for an initial consideration of £6.175m and a deferred consideration partly based on performance over the next 3 years. Ego is expected to have revenue of £8.9m for the year to 31 December 2021 (2020: £3.4m), and Inspecs expects the acquisition to be earnings enhancing for 2022.

More information on Ego Eyewear can be found at www.egoeyewear.com

 

Robin Totterman, CEO, Inspecs commented:

 

"We are pleased to bring Ego into the Inspecs Group to further develop our brand portfolio and add to our Scandinavian offering, where we believe there are considerable opportunities for us. We have known Ronald and Johanna for a number of years and watched as they have successfully developed Ego into a significant player in the Nordic region, Japan and the UK. Both parties were able to see the value that Inspecs brings to continued development of global sales. Ego's design studio in Stockholm adds to our existing teams in the UK, Portugal, Hong Kong and New York. We look forward to working with the new members of our Group in 2022."

 

 

For further information please contact:

 

Inspecs Group plc

Robin Totterman, CEO

Chris Kay, CFO

 

via FTI Consulting

Tel: +44 (0) 20 3727 1000

Peel Hunt (Nominated Adviser and Broker)

Adrian Trimmings

Andrew Clark

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7418 8900

 

FTI Consulting (Financial PR)

Alex Beagley

Alice Newlyn

Tel: +44 (0) 20 3727 1000

 

About Inspecs Group plc

 

INSPECS is a Bath-based designer, manufacturer and distributor of eyewear frames and optically advanced spectacle lenses. The Group produces a broad range of frames and lenses, covering optical, sunglasses and safety, which are either "Branded" (either under licence or under the Group's own proprietary brands), or "OEM" (including private label on behalf of retail customers and un-branded).

 

In December 2020, INSPECS acquired Eschenbach, a leading, global, eyewear supplier headquartered in Nuremberg, Germany, which includes the American company Tura. The acquisition extended the Group's presence internationally in key global markets. This followed the acquisition of lens maker Norville in July 2020, whereby INSPECS combined two heritage brands in British optical, Savile Row frame maker, and Norville lens maker, further enhancing its vertically integrated business model. As one of only a few companies that can offer this one-stop-shop solution to global retail chains, INSPECS is well positioned to continue to take market share in the globally expanding eyewear market.

 

INSPECS customers include global optical and non-optical retailers, global distributors and independent opticians, with its distribution network covering over 80 countries and reaching approximately 70,000 points of sale.

 

INSPECS has operations across the globe: with offices in the UK, Portugal, Scandinavia, the US and China (Hong Kong, Macau and Shenzhen), and manufacturing facilities in Vietnam, China, the UK and Italy. With the acquisition of Eschenbach, the Group's international reach further extends across Europe and the American markets.

 

The Group's growth strategy going forward is to: (i) continue to grow organically; (ii) undertake further acquisitions (and drive value through leveraging the Group's internal capabilities); and (iii) extend the Group's manufacturing capacity.

 

More information is available at www.INSPECS.com

 

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