BorgEssilor of America, a subsidiary of Essilor International, has strengthened its prescription laboratory network in the United States with the acquisition of a majority stake in Empire Optical of California, Inc., located in North Hollywood. A distributor of Varilux(R) lenses, the company has 168 employees and US$23 million in full-year revenue. Empire has major potential for developing Essilor lenses and enables the Group to increase its market share in the nation's most populous state.

Essilor of America has also acquired a majority stake in two prescription laboratories: Advance Optical Sales Co., Inc. in Rochester, New York, with revenue of US$6.1 million, and Future Optics Inc. in Jackson, Tennessee, with revenue of US$3.3 million.

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