Safilo to Sell Solstice, Shares Rise Following Announcement

MILAN – Shares of Safilo Group climbed 4.77 percent to 1.03 euros one hour after the bourse opened here, following the signing of an agreement to sell its U.S. retail chain Solstice to Fairway LLC. Fairway is a U.S. limited liability company, formed by a group of investors active in the U.S. and in the European eyewear retail business. The transaction is expected to be completed within the third quarter of 2019. Financial details were not revealed. Safilo said last month it had received expressions of interest to purchase Solstice, and that it considered the sale probable within 2019. The option to sell, said Safilo at the time, fit with its efforts to turn around the company. To wit, the sale of the Solstice retail business is in line with Safilo’s focus on its core wholesale business. It “thereby marks a further key step in Safilo’s strategy of recovering a sustainable economic profile,” said the company on Friday. Separately, earlier this week, the Italian eyewear company said it had reimbursed Equity Linked Bonds the amount of 150 million euros, completing the refinancing plan set in motion last year and totaling 300 million euros between the share capital increase and the New Credit Agreement expiring in

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

Read More...

from WWDWWD http://bit.ly/30G1ap6