Acquisition of Transitions Optical by Essilor confirmed and changes in senior management are announced

Monday, March 31 2014 | 00 h 00 min | News

The acquisition of Transitions Optical by Essilor has now been finalized. The transaction, announced in Capsule DotClip on August 9, went through all the approval steps. Since acquiring 51% of the shares of PPG, Essilor has become the sole owner of Transitions Optical. The transaction is valued at $1.73 billion.

Various changes in Transitions’s senior management have been announced.  Rick Elias, Senior vice-president Optical and Specialty Materials and Chief Executive Officer, is retiring. Dave Cole, after working for 24 years at Transitions, is going back to PPG as vice-president of the Packaging Coatings Unit. Paddy McDermott is now the new president of Transitions. Finally, Bertrand Roy, senior vice-president of Strategic Partnerships at Essilor, will lead the Transitions Optical Business Unit for the Essilor group. All these changes are becoming effective today, April 1, 2014.