Kering is launching a strategic initiative aimed at building in-house eyewear expertise, in order to take advantage of strong growth in global sales of frames and sunglasses.

 

The French company, whose portfolio includes 11 luxury and “sport & lifestyle” brands such as Gucci, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen, will invest in the Kering Eyewear division. Roberto Vedovotto will be CEO. Vedovotto and his team will be co-shareholders of the new entity.

 

Roberto Vedovotto, former CEO at Safilo, was taken on at Kering in November 2013. At the same time as it introduced its new business model, Kering also announced a new agreement with Safilo, which holds a license for Kering’s Gucci frames. The two companies will terminate the current Gucci license agreement two years early, by December 31, 2016, for a compensation payment to Safilo of nearly $130 million.

 

Instead, Safilo and Kering will set up a strategic product partnership agreement for four years, starting in January 2017. This agreement will cover product development, manufacturing and supply of Gucci frames and will allow Kering to benefit from Safilo’s expertise and production capabilities.

 

Eventually, Kering plans to fully control the eyewear value chain, from design to product development and supply chain, and from branding to sales.

 

The 11 Kering brands, nine of which are managed through license agreements with five different partners, currently generate $500 million in sales and over $70 million in royalties.

Source: http://www.kering.com/fr/communiques-de-presse/kering_prevoit_de_reprendre_le_controle_de_la_chaine_de_valeur_de_ses

Valeant and investor

William Ackman have obtained a three-day trial to begin on October 6 in Delaware. The objective: to have the special meeting of Allergan shareholders moved up to mid-November from the December 18 date (see August 28, 2014 news clip).

 

At the meeting, shareholders will decide the fate of directors who oppose the hostile takeover bid by Valeant and Pershing Square.

 

Valeant and Ackman believe that Allergan chose the December 18 date to give it time to find an alternative deal. They argue that Allergan had no intention of calling the special meeting, an argument that Judge Andre Bouchard accepted in his decision.

 

Allergan continues to maintain that the December 18 date was chosen to give the court in California time to render its verdict in the lawsuit against Pershing Square, Ackman’s hedge fund, for insider trading.

 

Pershing Square secretly began accumulating Allergan shares in February 2014. It disclosed its nearly 10% stake on April 21. The next day, Valeant and Pershing Square announced their hostile takeover bid. Allergan’s shares were pushed higher and the value of Pershing Square’s stake in the company rose to $1 billion.

 

If Pershing Square loses its case, it will not be allowed to vote at Allergan’s special meeting, which is why it wants the meeting date bumped up. Stay tuned…

 

Source: http://www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USKBN0GR1RT20140827

Rumours over the past few weeks that Andrea Guerra was leaving Luxottica have been confirmed: he has stepped down as the company’s CEO. Luxottica will be headed by two co-CEOs with complementary responsibilities.

 

Outgoing Guerra held the position of CEO for ten years. He will receive a $14.2 million exit package, in addition to almost $850,000 in exchange for waiving any claim or right towards Luxottica. He will also receive $1.1 million related to a con-competition agreement, lasting two years, which includes a clause prohibiting him from soliciting employees of Luxottica.

 

Enrico Cavatorta, Luxottica’s current chief financial officer and general manager, has been appointed interim CEO of Markets, while the company looks for a candidate to take over on a permanent basis.

 

Massimo Vian will head up Operations and, for now, will report to an executive committee lead by Luxottica founder Leonardo Del Vecchio, who has returned to a more active role at the age of 79.

 

“The evolution to a co-CEO leadership structure with distinct and complementary responsibilities will ensure stronger management of the Group, which has rapidly increased its size, complexity and global presence in recent years,” said the company in a press release.

 

Allergan will hold a Special Meeting of Stockholders on December 18, 2014 to discuss the hostile takeover bid by Valeant and Pershing Square Capital.

 

The meeting was demanded by some shareholders, including Pershing Square, which holds 9.7% of Allergan’s capital. Shareholders will be asked whether they want to oust directors who oppose the merger with Valeant.

 

The Board of Directors continues to maintain that the offer greatly underestimates its real value. The company just posted the strongest quarterly sales in its history and plans to reduce its costs by approximately $475 M in 2015 compared to its previous strategic plan. It is predicting compound annual growth of earnings per share of more than 20% over the next five years.

 

In order to counter Pershing Square’s influence within its own ranks, Allergan filed a lawsuit against Pershing under the Federal Securities Act regarding the purchase of Allergan shares. This happened barely a few weeks before the company joined Valeant in the hostile takeover bid. If Allergan’s request for an injunction, filed in California, is accepted, Pershing Square will not be allowed to vote at the special meeting.

 

On another front, Allergan’s discussions surrounding the purchase of pharmaceutical company Salix seem to be at a standstill. By buying Salix, Allergan would increase its value to a level that would make a buyout by Valeant difficult.

 

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Sources:

http://agn.client.shareholder.com/releaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=867860

http://agn.client.shareholder.com/releaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=867446

http://eyewiretoday.com/view.asp?20140822-allergan_talks_to_buy_salix_in_defense_move_said_to_be_dormant

 

 

 

Tissot Medical Research and the University of Lausanne (EPFL) continue to improve their contact lens for the detection of glaucoma.

 

The Swiss researchers’ project is to develop a lens that is capable of measuring intraocular pressure continuously for 24 hours. This would correct the errors that arise from the current method, which can only measure pressure at a precise moment.

 

The lenses are composed of silicone and equipped with sensors that measure the variations in pressure with each blink of the eyes, using a bump that presses against the cornea when the eyelid closes. This causes the electrodes to come closer together. Small antennas attached to the patient’s glasses capture the information.

 

By measuring the eye’s resistance to the pressure from blinking, it is possible to collect valuable information about the patient’s intraocular pressure. “After 24 hours, ophthalmologists plug a USB key into the housing and analyze the results,” says the director of the Electronics and Signal Processing Laboratory at EPFL.

 

The smart lens could also help in adjusting the patient’s treatment by measuring the biomechanical properties of the cornea.

 

Although it is not yet on the market, this lens already has competition. Sensimed, a start-up also based at EPFL, has developed a different version based on a technology that analyzes the changes in the circumference of the cornea.

Sources:

http://actu.epfl.ch/news/une-lentille-de-contact-pour-depister-le-glaucome/

http://www.acuite.fr/articles.asp?REF=9909