Safilo Announces Deal to Sell US Retail Business

PADUA, ITALY – Safilo Group announced that it has reached an agreement to sell the U.S. retail chain Solstice to Fairway LLC, formed by a group of investors active in the U.S. and in the European eyewear retail business.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2019.

The sale of Solstice “confirms the group’s efforts to focus on its core wholesale business, and thereby marks a further key step in Safilo’s strategy of recovering a sustainable economic profile,” according to a press release.

Safilo announced in April that it received expressions of interest to purchase its Solstice and planned to proceed with a sale.

Solstice was acquired by Safilo in 2002, when the retailer had six stores. Today it has 73 stores, of which 28 are outlets.

Safilo makes sunglasses, optical frames, sports eyewear and other products. It has subsidiaries in 40 countries, along with more than 50 distribution partners in key markets.