The French luxury goods group Kering SA is investing in its glasses division. On Thursday, the group of companies announced corresponding agreements with two Italian glasses manufacturers.
Accordingly, the daughter company Kering Eyewear will acquire all shares in Visard SRL and a minority stake in the Mistral SRL founded in 1991 as a spin-off. The Agreement includes the option of fully taking over Mistral by 2030, the group said. The transactions still require the usual competition law permits and are to be completed in the third quarter of the current year.
Visard and Mistral are “longstanding, strategic partners” from Kering Eyewear, according to a message. The now agreed transactions enabled the company to “further strengthen its leading position in the field of design, development and sales of high -quality glasses and at the same time to take a step in its industrial development strategy”.
With the participation, Kering Eyewear is driving his “industrial development strategy”
Roberto Vedovotto, the founder, President and CEO of Kering Eyewear, explained the background of the investments. “Over the years, Visard, Mistral and their respective founders have made an invaluable contribution to the success of Kering Eyewear by introducing incomparable quality and technical know-how into our company,” he said in a statement. “We are therefore proud to welcome Visard at Kering Eyewear, and look forward to working with Mistral for the next phase of the development of the company.”
Kering Eyewear was founded in 2014. The company produces the glasses collections of the luxury labels belonging to the Kering Group such as Gucci, Cartier, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Chloé and Alexander McQueen as well as the German sporting goods provider Puma. In addition, Kering Eyewear acquired the Lindberg, Maui Jim and Zeal Optics brands over the past few years.