Apax Funds to Acquire Rodenstock

Wednesday, March 24 2021 | 16 h 23 min | Acquisitions, News, Press Release

Funds advised by Apax today announced an agreement to acquire Rodenstock Group from Compass Partners.

The Apax Funds will support the Rodenstock management team’s vision of accelerating the company’s growth through innovation, commercial execution and digitisation, whilst continuing to deliver the highest level of service to clients and partners.

Anders Hedegaard, CEO of Rodenstock, said: “We are excited to partner with the Apax Funds, who have a proven culture of investing for growth, and who will be able to support Rodenstock’s continued quest to develop and produce the highest quality lenses for our customers. During 2020 we saw tremendous growth driven by our B.I.G. VISION™ technology, which helped us emerge from the Covid-19 crisis stronger than most of our competitors. Our innovative technology enhances the value proposition that can be delivered by our opticians, who in turn are delivering optimal vision to consumers. With the support of Apax we are looking to expand our presence even further by offering our customers more excellent and innovative products.”

Steven Dyson, Partner at Apax and Co-Head of Healthcare, commented: “Rodenstock fits perfectly with the Apax Funds’ healthcare strategy of investing in innovative companies with a differentiated customer proposition and the potential to achieve stand-out growth. Under Anders’ management, Rodenstock’s strategic refocus has already translated into strong performance in 2019 and 2020, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, creating a robust foundation for future success.”

Tim Wright, Partner at Compass Partners, commented: “In the last 5 years Rodenstock has been transformed into a global leader in ophthalmic lenses. We are delighted that the Apax Funds have agreed to acquire the business. We believe their partnership with Anders Hedegaard and his team will provide a strong platform for future growth which will allow Rodenstock to maximise its full potential.”

The transaction is subject to applicable regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the middle of 2021. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Click HERE for the full press release.