The impact fund of Weinberg Capital Partners is acquiring a minority stake in Opal Demetz, a specialist in design and distribution of prescription eyewear frames.
Founded in 1995 by François Fort, the Lyon-based company Opal Demetz began designing and distributing frames for opticians by positioning itself in the children’s eyewear market. After successfully undertaking the challenge of making children’s eyewear both technical and playful through exclusive top-ranking licenses, Opal Demetz has established itself in other niche segments tailored to opticians’ needs.
With its €45 million of revenue and nearly 150 employees, Opal Demetz is currently the European leader in eyewear frames for children and adolescents, the French leader in affordable products and, since 2015, an expert in the sports segment with the acquisition of Demetz. This success is attributed to its glasses and goggles prominently used by athletes.
The Group’s collections bring together high-profile brands, a variety of models, affordable prices, and genuine expertise. Opal Demetz’s ambition is to offer to opticians high-value-added collections and services, including quality after-sales service, to optimize their daily operations. Opal Demetz outsources the production of its frames to subcontracting partners, with a centralized logistics organization at its own 3,350 m² site in Limonest (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes).
With the arrival of Weinberg Capital Partners as a shareholder, the Group’s ambition is to accelerate its development through the launch of new collections and new activities, and to accelerate its international expansion, while reinforcing its sustainable commitment around two main pillars: responsible production and the gradual decarbonization of its business. This commitment to growth is reflected at the start of the year in the merger with Roussilhe, a French designer, manufacturer and distributor of eyewear frames based in Oyonnax (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes). With Roussilhe, Opal Demetz is acquiring a new expertise: French know-how, with the intention of revitalizing the traditional eyewear industry, thus meeting the challenges of sustainability in the sector.
This new shareholder structure also brings about a change in the management: François Fort, the company’s founder, hands over his role as CEO to his son, Guillaume Fort, while retaining the position of Chairman and remaining an active member of the supervisory board.
This marks the sixth investment for the WCP Impact Dev #1 fund.
Founded in 2005, Weinberg Capital Partners is an independent investment company historically active in buy-out capital, which expanded its field of intervention to real estate assets in 2008 and has been investing since 2015 in the capital of listed French SMEs/mid-caps as a minority shareholder with an active, friendly, and long-term approach. In 2020, Weinberg Capital Partners added its capacity to invest in SMEs/mid-caps with a minority strategy focused on sustainable development issues, which offers extra-financial support known as impact, to better prepare companies for environmental and societal challenges. In 2023, Weinberg Capital Partners created a new fund, Eiréné, dedicated to the development of SMEs/mid-caps in the security and defense sector.
With €1,3 billion of assets under management, Weinberg Capital Partners is a significant player in the mid-market equity segment in France. Weinberg Capital Partners is a signatory of the PRI, a member of the International Climate Initiative and an active responsible investor.
Weinberg Capital Partners is a signatory of the PRI, a member of the International Climate Initiative and an active responsible investor.
Weinberg Capital Partners supports Télémaque, an association for equal opportunities in education.
For more information: weinbergcapital.com.
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Founded in 1995 by François Fort, Lyon-based OPAL is now the European leader in frames for children and teenagers, as well as the French leader in second pairs offered by opticians. The company broadens its brand portfolio to grow alongside its first customers and expands into the adult market. Since acquiring a majority stake in Demetz in 2015, Opal has also been pursuing its growth strategy in niche markets by investing in sports frames. In 2019, it invests in French manufacturing through the launch of the Berenice collection, and 3 years later launches the Saint James adult collection. Finally, this year Opal Demetz announces its merger with Roussilhe to become a key player in the French eyewear market, while continuing to develop its international business.
For further information: opal.fr/en/home/
Bérengère Beaujean
Head of Communications
berengere.beaujean@weinbergcapital.com
Sylvie Leca
06 84 35 68 63
weinbergcapital.rp@image-strategie.com
Alain Biquard
Development and Investor Relations Manager
alain.biquard@weinbergcapital.com
+ 33 1 53 53 55 16
+ 33 7 86 36 90 79
Marie Besset
Group Communications Manager
mbesset@opal.fr
