BOSTON (BRAIN) — Bollé Brands, which Vista Outdoor sold last year, has acquired the Spy Optic brand.
Spy Optic, which designs, markets and distributes sunglasses, goggles, helmets and prescription eyewear, joins Serengeti, Cébé and H2Optix within the Bollé Brands portfolio.
In August 2018, Vista Outdoor sold Bollé, along with the Cebé and Serengeti helmet and sunglasses brands, for $158 million to Antelope Brands Bidco Inc., an entity controlled by a private equity fund based in Europe. Bollé continues to manfacture bike helmets and sunglasses.
"We are excited to have acquired such an amazing brand," said Peter Smith, CEO of Bollé Brands. "Spy Optic has its own unique and irreverent identity with huge growth potential in North America, its home market, and internationally where Spy Optic will leverage our Bollé Brands international distribution network. Our dedicated approach, support, and investment will drive exciting new developments in product innovation and design, which will form the basis of considerable global growth. This new acquisition establishes Bollé Brands as one of the key players in the premium performance sport and lifestyle eyewear and helmets markets."
Founded in 1994 and based in Southern California, Spy Optic has showcased its high-definition, "Happy Lens technology."
Spy Optic will complement Bollé Brands in terms of brand proposition, channel mix, and geographic presence, the company said. The combination will bolster Bollé Brands' scale in North America, will allow Spy Optic to benefit from increased investment in product development and distribution, and will facilitate an international expansion of the brand beyond its current footprint, it said.
In parallel with this acquisition, Bollé Brands invested significantly in new systems (enterprise resource planning, business-to-business and business-to-consumer platforms) to support its customer-first strategy and to enhance product innovation and creativity.
