San Antonio’s Visionworks sold to Calif. firm
California vision care company VSP Global has agreed to buy San Antonio eye care retailer Visionworks — the latest local company bought by an outside firm.
Company officials declined Thursday to say how much VSP Global — based in Rancho Cordova, near Sacramento — will pay for the San Antonio-based chain or disclose other terms of the deal, which must obtain approval from regulators.
The Visionworks acquisition constitutes VSP’s largest investment in its retail network in its 65-year history and would more than double its workforce, officials said.
Visionworks is the sixthlargest optical retailer in the country with more than 700 locations and 8,900 workers.
The Visionworks purchase will give VSP’s 61,000 clients and 80 million-plus members in the U.S. a “more substantial, consistent and sustainable retail experience,” VSP CEO Michael Guyette said in a statement.
Nearly 400 employees work at Visionworks’ headquarters. VSP doesn’t plan to lay off Visionworks employees or move its corporate headquarters elsewhere, company spokeswoman Jace Duval said.
Visionworks is the latest San Antonio company lost to an outside merger or acquisition within the past three years — as the United States sees growing political pushback to corporate consolidation.
The number of mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. has steadily climbed since the Great Recession, according to data from the Institute for Mergers, Acquisitions and Alliances.
More than $2 trillion worth of mergers and acquisitions took place in 2018. So far this year, the U.S. has seen almost $830 million in “M&A” transactions.
In San Antonio, six major companies have been bought by a private equity firm or acquired by another company since 2016.
Earlier this month, Whataburger’s founding family agreed to sell its majority stake in the San Antoniobased burger chain to Chicago investment firm BDT Capital Partners for an undisclosed price.
Last year, Ohio-based refiner Marathon Petroleum Corp. bought Andeavor, formerly Tesoro, for $23.3 billion with plans to operate its headquarters in Ohio. Marathon put Andeavor’s $135 million headquarters on the North Side on the market in April.
C.H. Guenther & Son Inc. sold to Chicago private equity firm Pritzker Group in April 2018 in a deal reportedly valued at $1.4 billion.
Rackspace Hosting sold to New York private equity firm Apollo Global Management for about $4.3 billion in late 2016.
Convenience chain operator CST Brands Corp. also sold that year to the Canadian owner of Circle K, Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., for $4.4 billion. Virginia-based Pentagon Federal Credit Union bought the former site of CST’s headquarters — now Circle K’s Texas division and regional distribution center — at 19500 Bulverde Road in March.
Circle K has said the company will remain at the property but PenFed CEO James Schenck said in March he expects his firm to be the property’s only tenant in the coming years.
While it’s unclear what local impact the Visionworks acquisition will have, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said, “It’s just very unhealthy when you narrow down competition.”
“I don’t think it’s good for the country, and I don't think we’re the only community that’s facing this,” Wolff said. “In fact, I know we’re not.”