3M to Sell Safety Prescription Eyewear Business to Hoya

The business has sales of $45 million a year.

3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) announced that it plans to sell its safety prescription eyewear business to Texas-based HOYA Vision Care.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. About 140 3M employees are expected to join HOYA.

The safety prescription eyewear business is part of Maplewood, MN-based 3M’s personal safety division. With annual global sales of about $45 million, it provides frames, prescription lenses and premium coating options in a custom-made solution.

“After a thorough strategic review, we have decided to exit the safety prescription eyewear business to focus on our core personal safety businesses,” said Bernard Cicut, vice president and general manager of 3M’s personal safety division.

3M will retain its safety non-prescription eyewear business.

The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2017, subject to customary closing conditions.

Zacks Investment Research noted that from 2012 to 2016, 3M “pruned its businesses from 40 to 26.”