Prescription Eyewear, the parent company of GlassesDirect, has
strengthened its foothold in Europe with the acquisition of
Sweden-based online contact lens retailer LensOn.
Through this acquisition, Prescription Eyewear strengthens its
product portfolio in the optical market to include contact lenses
alongside its existing spectacles and sunglasses offering.
Following the deal, the combined group, which is profitable, will
have generated revenues of £30 million in 2012.
LensOn currently operates local-language sites across Sweden,
Norway, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, France and
the UK. Founders Kim Persson and Johan Bergenheim will continue
to manage the LensOn business and drive growth for the whole
group in the Nordic region. The company has identified a €3
to €4 billion opportunity in the European online market
over the next three to five years, with Germany and France
singled out by the business as having particularly strong growth
potential.
The news comes at the end of a year that also saw Prescription
Eyewear launch its Sunglasses Shop business into the US and
Australian markets, which brought its international sales to over
50 percent of revenue. Prescription Eyewear now receives 60
percent of orders from outside the UK, with this deal further
expected to boost the company’s European presence.
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