Chalk up another buyout deal for Orange County’s apparel sector.
Fullerton-based Motive Eyewear Inc., a maker and seller of glasses, sunglasses and frames, has been acquired by a longtime rival.
Florida’s StyleMark Inc. last week closed on its buy of Motive Eyewear from Miami-based private equity firm H.I.G. Capital LLC, which had a majority stake in the company.
Terms of the deal, which first was announced in October, weren’t disclosed.
Selling to StyleMark was a way to give Motive Eyewear an international footprint and expand its sunglasses business, according to Chief Executive Bill DeYo.
“StyleMark is really strong in sunglasses and Motive Eyewear is strong in the reading glasses market. By merging the two, we have businesses that complement each other,” DeYo said.
Motive Eyewear generates about $130 million in yearly sales designing and selling glasses, sunglasses and frames under the Dockers, ESPN, Mudd, Kathy Van Zeeland and Hilary Duff brands, among others.
The company sells its glasses directly and through distributors to large retailers such as Walgreen Co., Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Macy’s Inc., Sears Holdings Corp., Costco Wholesale Corp. and JC Penney Corp.
Motive Eyewear sells more than 30 million sets of glasses annually. Its core business is in the reading glasses market.
Privately held StyleMark doesn’t disclose revenue. The company sells sunglasses and other glasses under the Jones of New York, Disney, Polaroid, Speedo and Nine West labels, among others.
Its glasses are sold in 68 countries, DeYo said.
Having a parent company with a presence in Europe, Asia, South America and other areas was a big reason behind the deal, according to DeYo.
“We’ve always wanted to be international,” DeYo said.
Motive Eyewear’s sunglasses, glasses and frames are made in China and sold in America and Canada. They’re stored at an Anaheim distribution facility.
The glasses maker counts about 400 employees who work at the company’s 75,000-square-foot Fullerton headquarters and a 200,000-square-foot distribution center in Anaheim.
The headquarters houses salespeople, executives and administrative workers. Workers in Fullerton also assemble glasses displays for stores.
The company has an additional 200 workers at offices in New Jersey, New York and Hong Kong.
Motive Eyewear’s headquarters is set to stay in Orange County, but the operations are expected to be consolidated, according to DeYo. The company will fold its Fullerton operations into its Anaheim location, he said.
The company is working with its landlord to lease the Fullerton building, DeYo said.
Low Profile
Motive Eyewear doesn’t plan to hire any more employees this year, he said.
The company could see layoffs in OC, but how many jobs, if any, would be cut isn’t certain.
Motive Eyewear has kept a low profile here since husband and wife team Raymond and Dorothy Kahn started the company in 1958.
Back then the company was called Sunglass Products Inc. It remained family-owned until the Kahn family sold a majority stake of the business to H.I.G in 2004.
H.I.G. is known for acquiring distressed businesses, turning them around and selling them.
The firm helped Sunglass Products buy bankrupt New York-based glasses maker Lantis Eyewear Corp., according to DeYo.
H.I.G. combined the two companies to form what now is Motive Eyewear.
As for the Kahn family, Raymond and Dorothy Kahn since have died. Their four sons held various positions at the company during different time periods until now, according to DeYo.
The remaining Kahn family members cashed out with the sale to StyleMark, he said.
DeYo, who started out at Motive Eyewear as a controller and later acquired an ownership stake at the company, is set to continue to run the business as chief executive, he said.
The Motive Eyewear sale is one of several the county’s apparel industry has seen during the past year.
The biggest deal was the $2.1 billion buyout of Foothill Ranch-based Oakley Inc. by Italy’s Luxottica Group SPA.
