Equistone sells Eschenbach to trade

Harriet Matthews
19 November 2020

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Equistone has sold optician chain Eschenbach to UK-based Inspecs Group.

The transaction remains subject to competition authority approval.

The deal is valued at €94.85m, according to a statement from Inspecs.

Inspecs announced that it intends to raise £64m from the placement of new ordinary shares to finance the acquisition. The company also intends to use its bank facility and existing cash resources to finance the acquisition, which will see Inpecs wholly acquire the company. Peel Hunt is acting as sole bookrunner.

Equistone (then Barclays Private Equity) acquired a 70% stake in Eschenbach in August 2007 in an SBO from Hannover Finanz and the Eschenbach family. The GP invested via Equistone Partners Europe II, which held a final close in February 2005 on €1.65bn. The buyout was backed by senior debt from IKB Deutsche Industriebank.

The GP backed a number of add-ons for the company during the investment period, including UK-based International Eyewear in September 2008. Debt was provided to support the bolt-on by a consortium led by IKB. The company also acquired US-based Tura in December 2009.

The company sold technical optics division Oproflux to BWK in June 2014 in a deal valued at €20m in June 2014.

Company
Nuremburg-based Eschenbach was established in 1913. The company designs and sells lenses and frames for eyewear, including glasses, sunglasses and visual aids. The company reported revenues of €100m in 2007 compared with turnover of €143m in 2019.

People
Equistone Partners Europe – Marc Arens (managing director, partner); Michael Bork (managing director); Julia Lucà (investment director).
Eschenbach – Jörg Zobel (CEO).
Inspecs Group – Robin Totterman (CEO).

Advisers
Vendor – Lincoln International (M&A); Ashurst (legal); EY (financial due diligence, tax).
Acquirer – Livingstone (M&A); Gleiss Lutz (legal); KPMG (financial due diligence, tax)