LVMH Takes Full Control Of Eyewear Manufacturer Thélios
● The French luxury group has agreed to purchase Marcolin's 49 percent stake in Thélios.
MILAN — LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton is taking full control of eyewear manufacturer Thélios.
The French luxury conglomerate has agreed to purchase Marcolin's 49 percent stake in Thélios for an undisclosed sum. Separately, Marcolin will buy back the 10 percent stake LVMH owns in that Italian company, which the former acquired when Thélios was founded in 2017.
The step will allow LVMH to further strengthen its presence in the eyewear industry leveraging on Thélios' expertise and Marcolin to pursue future strategic investments.
Thélios produces for Dior, Fendi, Celine, Loewe, Stella McCartney, Kenzo, Fred, Berluti and Rimowa.
As reported in September, Givenchy is the latest LVMH brand to join the Thélios portfolio, beginning in January.
Thélios began operating in 2018, a joint venture between LVMH, which at the time had a 51 percent stake, with Marcolin owning the remainder. When the agreement was revealed, LVMH bought a 10 0 percent stake in Marcolin.
The year 2021 has seen the arrival of Dior in January, and Fendi in July, bowing for fall 2021. 021.
The general consensus is that t Thélios will gradually produce eyewear collections for most if not all the brands under the LVMH umbrella. Thélios also partly produces for Louis Vuitton, whose eyewear is sold only through its own boutiques.
Thélios employs 800 people, with 600 of them in Italy, and production spans more than 194,400 square feet.
The state-of-the-art plant in Longarone, a one-hour drive from Venice, was inaugurated in 2018.
Its former chief executive officer Giovanni Zoppas exited in May to join Tecnica Group, which specializes in outdoor footwear and ski equipment, and a successor has not been named yet.
Founded in 1961 and based in Longarone — in Italy's Veneto region known for being an eyewear manufacturing hub — Marcolin designs, produces and distributes eyewear collections for a number of licensed brands, including Tom Ford, Guess, Adidas Originals, Bally, Moncler, Max Mara, GCDS, Tod's, Emilio Pucci and Timberland, among others. Additionally, the firm's portfolio includes house brands Web, Marcolin and Viva.
The company is helmed by CEO Fabrizio Curci, who joined in the summer of 2020, succeeding Massimo Renon. PAI Partners controls 74.7 percent of Marcolin.