Who is oakley owned by

Luxottica, which makes prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses under a variety of brands, and Essilor, a maker of lenses, are the two largest companies in the sector, with Luxottica having a 14 percent market share and Essilor a 13 percent share, according to the market research firm Euromonitor International. The two companies were worth a combined More than half of revenue at the combined company would come from the United States, while Europe would account for about 22 percent and 18 percent would come from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of the year, but requires regulatory and shareholder approval. Aging populations, greater access to health care, awareness of sun-related damage and a rising middle class in emerging markets has led to a surge in sales in eyewear, particularly for branded frames. Luxottica makes frames for luxury brands like Armani, Chanel and Prada, and it is the biggest retailer of eyewear in the world.

The merger resolves lingering concerns over a leadership succession plan at Luxottica. Search forums. Trending Topics. Log in. Install the app. Contact us. Close Menu. Take 30 seconds to register your free account to access deals, post topics, and view exclusive content! Register Today Join the largest Oakley Forum on the web! Forums Other Off Topic. JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.

You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly. You should upgrade or use an alternative browser. Other brands owned by Oakley. El Chupa Cabra Oakley Enthusiast. Curious to know your thoughts on other brands owned by Oakley at one point; Dragon, Arnette and Oliver Peoples. I have all three brands in my collection as well as a few Fox, which Oakley manufactured for a few years.

Most here arent crazy about them. None of them ever had the mad-science effect that oakley had on us. I should have guessed as much. The only cross over with Oakley designers was with Arnette. In addition, Oakley was granted an option to purchase Essilor and Gentex's nonprescription-lens unit within four years.

At the time Gentex was the world's leading producer of advanced-technology polycarbonate lenses and was Oakley's sole supplier of polycarbonate lenses.

As part of the deal, Oakley also obtained an exclusive right to purchase a new scratch-resistant coating and decentered sunglass lens blanks, which would enable it to create optically superior dual lens sunglasses. It planned to focus on sports performance sunglasses, the same niche occupied by Oakley.

Nike also announced it would introduce the Magneto brand of glasses in the winter of The unusually designed Magnetos had no temples; they adhered to the face of the wearer with two small, semi-sticky round discs called AMPs that were placed on the wearer's temples. The AMPs held the sunglasses to the face with tiny magnets.

The advantage, according to Nike: the glasses were lighter and would not bounce when you ran. After effecting a two-for-one stock split in early October, Oakley experienced problems with one of its principal distributors. Sunglass Hut International, Inc. Sales to Sunglass Hut accounted for approximately one-third of Oakley's total volume in the first half of On December 5, Oakley announced that Sunglass Hut had cancelled all purchase orders through January In November Oakley announced it had reached an agreement to acquire Serval Marketing, its exclusive distributor in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The distributor would be renamed Oakley U. It employed about 35 individuals, and its chairman, Carl Ward, and managing director, Ray Tilbrook, were signed to five-year employment contracts to ensure they would continue in the same roles for Oakley U. Closing out a very eventful year, three shareholders filed a class-action suit in December against Jannard and Michael Parnell, Oakley's two top executives, charging they misrepresented the state of the company's operations to take advantage of Oakley's secondary stock offering in June The two underwriting firms and Oakley were also named in the suit.

The lawsuit charged that company executives artificially inflated Oakley's stock by claiming that business with Sunglass Hut was strong and that the X Metal line would be introduced by the end of Several other similar class-action lawsuits were soon filed. Sales in the fourth quarter of declined sharply, because of the loss of orders from Sunglass Hut and sluggish European sales. Oakley moved into its new Foothill Ranch headquarters in early while still struggling from the aftermath of the Sunglass Hut debacle.

During the year Oakley took a number of steps to lay the ground for a turnaround, including a renewed focus on product innovation and a ramping up of new product introduction. After belatedly introducing the X Metal line in February, Oakley in April launched Fives, a frame designed specifically for the heads of women, which are typically smaller than those of men. In August the Eye Jackets line was extended with the introduction of a frame called Topcoat. Pursuing an aggressive strategy to achieve direct distribution in its international markets, Oakley began such an operation in Japan in May One month later, the company acquired One Xcel, Inc.

Also accomplished was the addition of about new retail accounts in order to lessen the company's reliance on the still struggling Sunglass Hut. By sales to Sunglass Hut would account for only about 23 percent of Oakley's sales. Continuing its litigious ways, Oakley filed the first of several suits against Nike in July , alleging that the shoe company had infringed a patent covering several Oakley sunglass designs.

Nike later countersued, and Knight and Jannard's relationship turned acrimonious. Because of the company's poor performance, Jannard took the unusual step of foregoing any compensation for the year, receiving neither a salary nor any stock options. Soon after suing Nike, Oakley took on the company in the heart of its market--that of footwear. Despite sporting a funky design and the company's usual high-tech materials, the shoe was perhaps most noteworthy for being manufactured entirely in the United States, at the Orange County plant.

This was a direct challenge to the contention of Nike and other shoemakers that they had to manufacture overseas in order to make a profit. The company was also by this time offering a line of apparel and accessories.

Other moves included the purchase of the Oakley division of its Canadian distributor. This drive to directly market and sell its products in foreign markets continued in succeeding years.

In November Oakley's Australian distributor was acquired; in June the company took over the distribution of Oakley products in Austria and also opened a new office in Munich, Germany.

The year turned out to be a turbulent one for Oakley as the shoe line, which was not yet profitable, proved to be a drag on earnings. There was also turmoil in the management ranks, as Oakley hired William D. Jannard refused to back down from his challenge to Nike, and even assumed the CEO position for the first time, vowing to take a greater hands-on role at the firm. To turn the shoe line around, Jannard reversed course and outsourced manufacturing to a South Korean contractor.

Plans were also formulated to significantly expand the shoe line to offer a broader line that would be more appealing to major retailers such as Foot Locker and REI.

By late the shoe line was in the black, aided by much wider distribution into about 2, stores worldwide. Also helping Oakley's shoe sales--as well as the sales of its other products--was the decision in mid to hire the company's first outside ad agency, which led to a new print campaign that debuted in early Also aiding sales of sunglasses in were the exploding pair of X Metals that Tom Cruise wore in the opening scenes of the motion picture blockbuster Mission: Impossible 2.

By late , meanwhile, the good news coming out of the Foothill Ranch headquarters sent the company stock soaring; it tripled in value from its level of a year earlier. Another important development in was the settlement of the various class-action lawsuits that had been filed in and accusing the company's executives of misleading investors. In March Oakley expanded its retail operations by opening its first outlet store, which it located in Milpitas, California.