Apax to buy eyewear maker Rodenstock

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Buyout group Apax is buying German ophthalmic lens and eyewear maker Rodenstock from peer investor Compass Partners, it said on Wednesday.

Financial details were not disclosed, but a person familiar with the matter said that the deal values Rodenstock at about 1.5 billion euros ($1.77 billion), including debt.

Reuters reported last month that Compass was preparing a sale at this valuation.

Rodenstock was founded in Munich in 1877 and employs 4,900 staff. In 2019, it posted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of 103 million euros on 450 million in sales.

Last year, the company received a 75-million-euro capital injection from its owners to cope with a sales slump during the coronavirus pandemic.

Revenues then recovered faster than expected on strong demand for its high quality progressive-addition lenses, Rodenstock said in June.

Following financial difficulties, Rodenstock's family owners sold the company to buyout fund Permira in 2003, who passed it on to Bridgepoint in 2006. Compass acquired a majority in Rodenstock in 2016 and two years later took full control.

($1 = 0.8457 euros)

(Reporting by Arno Schuetze and Alexander Hübner; Editing by Maria Sheahan)