Kering Eyewear has agreed to acquire Hawaiian eyewear brand Maui Jim. Kering Eyewear plans to roll out Maui Jim’s lens technology to its existing portfolio of luxury brands. The acquisition marks Kering Eyewear’s second proprietary brand acquisition, after the 2021 acquisition of Lindberg, a Danish eyewear brand.
Kering Eyewear was founded in 2014 as a joint venture between Kering Group, which manages the development of renowned Houses that include Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Brioni, Boucheron, Pomellato, DoDo and Qeelin, and luxury group Richemont.
Founded in 1987, Maui Jim is the world’s largest independent sunglasses brand, known for its Hawaiian heritage and proprietary PolarizedPlus2® lens technology. Maui Jim offers a broad spectrum of sun and optical frames sold in more than 100 countries.
The S&C team representing Kering Eyewear includes Frank Aquila, Melissa Sawyer, Olivier de Vilmorin and Benjamin Goodchild. Heather Coleman and Rebecca Rabinowitz are advising on executive compensation and benefits matters. Davis Wang, John Jo and David Horton are advising on tax matters. Renata Hesse, Michael Rosenthal, Juan Rodriguez, Bradley Smith, Marielena Doeding and Matt Bogdan are advising on antitrust matters. Mehdi Ansari, Justin Orr and William Bekker are advising on intellectual property matters. Ryan Logan advised on data and privacy matters.