Luxottica acquires Sunglass Hut

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Italian eyewear company Luxottica Group announced it has agreed to acquire Sunglass Hut International for $11.50 a share, or approximately $462m. The deal will provide a major North American and global retail presence for Luxottica's eyewear brands. Luxottica will also gain access to Sunglass Hut's predominantly younger clientele.

Sunglass Hut has a distribution network of 1,962 Sunglass Hut and speciality watch stores, many in airports, resorts or other travel-retail locations as well as US malls. In the current year Sunglass Hut is on target to achieve over $670m in annual sales.

Luxottica Group Chairman Leonardo Del Vecchio said in a statement,  "Sunglass Hut is the only chain that has the market position needed to set new trends." He described the acquisition as "the next step in our strategy to penetrate the retail market in North America."

• Luxottica is a manufacturer of prescription eyewear and distributor of famous sunglass brands based in Agordo Belluno, Italy. In 1999 the company purchased the Bausch & Lomb sunglass business, which includes brands such as Ray-Ban. Luxottica also owns LensCrafters, North America's largest optical retail chain, with 864 stores. In 2000, Luxottica had earnings of $235m on sales of $2.2bn.