Eschenbach

Eschenbach is a leading German designer and distributor of eyewear and optical products.

Founded in 1913, Eschenbach has grown into a global market leader for optical vision aids and achieved worldwide award-winning recognition for its design and quality, offering distinctive eyewear collections as well as magnifying vision aids and binoculars.

Headquartered in Nuremberg, Germany, Eschenbach has a strong presence across Western Europe with well-established sales offices in the US. Primarily focused on proprietary brands, the business also distributes licensed brands such as Marco Polo and Ted Baker.

VALUE CREATION

Since investment, Equistone Funds have worked closely with the business, which has demonstrated its resilience through the:

• Acquisition of International Eyewear, a leading UK supplier of eyewear and prescription sunglasses, in 2008.
• Acquisition of US-based eyewear brand Tura in 2009.
• Strategic sale of its technical optics division in 2014.
• Restructuring of the executive management team, including the appointment of Dr Jörg Zobel as CEO in 2015, who has successfully restructured the business and revitalised Eschenbach’s eyewear collections.

As a result, revenue has increased to €143m for 2019 and employee numbers have increased to 570.

THE EXIT

Equistone Fund II sold its investment in Eschenbach to Inspecs plc, a UK-based eyewear company listed on the London Stock Exchange.