H.I.G. Capital Announces Sale of Motive Eyewear
MIAMI – March 17, 2008 – H.I.G. Capital, a leading global private equity firm, announced today that it has completed the sale of Motive Eyewear, Inc. to StyleMark, Inc. Motive Eyewear and StyleMark are two of the leading suppliers of popular-priced eyewear.
Motive Eyewear, based in Fullerton, California, is a leading designer and supplier of popular-priced sunglasses, reading glasses, and optical frames, primarily in the United States and Canada. Motive sells over 30 million pair of eyewear annually under brands including Dockers, ESPN, Mudd, Hilary Duff and Kathy Van Zeeland.
In 2004, H.I.G. partnered with the existing management team at Personal Optics to recapitalize the company and to acquire the assets of Lantis Eyewear out of bankruptcy. The combined companies later became Motive Eyewear. Charles Hanemann, a Managing Director of H.I.G. commented, “We appreciate all of the work that the Motive management team put in to make this investment a successful one for H.I.G. and all of Motive’s investors.” Neil Tuch, a Managing Director of H.I.G. added, “Through new customer acquisitions, ongoing product innovation, and the thoughtful integration of Personal Optics and Lantis, the management team built a market leader in this industry. We are confident Motive will continue its strong performance in combination with StyleMark.”
Bill DeYo, CEO of Motive, remarked, “When we first joined forces with H.I.G., we knew we were pursuing a complex transaction that presented a tremendous opportunity. The H.I.G. team was a great partner in helping us reach such a successful outcome.”
About H.I.G. Capital
H.I.G. Capital L.L.C. (“H.I.G.”) is a leading global private equity investment firm with more than $4.5 billion of equity capital under management. Based in Miami, and with offices in Atlanta, Boston, and San Francisco in the U.S., as well as affiliate offices in London, Hamburg and Paris in Europe, H.I.G. specializes in providing capital to small and medium-sized companies with attractive growth potential. H.I.G. invests in management-led buyouts and recapitalizations of profitable and well managed manufacturing or service businesses. H.I.G. also has extensive experience with financial restructurings and operational turnarounds. Since its founding, H.I.G. has completed more than 75 transactions. The firm currently manages a portfolio of more than 50 companies with combined revenues in excess of $7 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.hig.com.