OPHTECS Corporation (hereinafter OPHTECS), a major manufacturer of contact lens solutions headquartered in Kobe City, Japan, acquired a 100% stake in Dutch contact lens manufacturer Microlens Contactlens Technolgy B.V. (hereinafter Microlens) and made it a wholly owned subsidiary. The purchase price is undisclosed. The subsidiary with its new name “OPHTECS Europe B.V.” will be operational under a new corporate structure in January 2019. The new company will set out to expand its business in Europe by creating synergy effects between OPHTECS’ existing European distributors and Microlens’ existing customers mainly in Benelux and Germany as well as continuing with Microlens’ contact lens R&D, manufacturing and sales operations.

(Photo: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/img/201812211710-O1-Mc5k211B)

OPHTECS entered the European market in 2016 and has been building distributor networks in the Netherlands, Britain, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and so on since then. Having a European subsidiary in the Netherlands through the latest acquisition will make it possible to deepen coordination with distributors in Europe, quickly gather information on the European market place and optimize its strategies for product development and sales activities. Furthermore, by thoroughly binding Microlens’ contact lenses and OPHTECS’ contact lens solutions, the company will enhance the creation of new customers by entering new countries. Moreover, the latest acquisition is also aimed at reducing costs and improving efficiency for procurement, transportation and warehousing control by using Microlens’ local office as a distribution base in Europe.

(Photos: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/release/201812211710?p=images)

OPHTECS is proactively expanding its global business as a priority strategy under its “Breakthrough 2021” medium-term business plan. While regarding the high quality and performance of “made-in-Japan” products as selling points, the company will strengthen its business structures in Europe in addition to Japan and East Asia, where the company has a widely renowned presence. The company also plans to enter the U.S. market in the near future and seeks to raise its overseas sales to 20% of its total global sales in 2021 -- the final year of the medium-term business plan.

About OPHTECS (http://ophtecs.com/)

Since its foundation in 1981, OPHTECS has been developing, manufacturing, selling and exporting contact lens solutions, including its own and the industry’s only solutions using povidone-iodine, as well as eye drops, with the slogan “Challenge and Innovation” under the management philosophy of “contributing to the world’s ophthalmic healthcare.” It has a share of more than 11% in the Japanese market. Its COO & President is Joe Yoneda.

About Microlens Contactlens Technology

Microlens has been manufacturing and selling mainly lathe-cut soft and hard contact lenses, as well as contact lens solutions. The company is particularly specialized in rigid gas-permeable (RGP) specialty contact lenses for medical use as well as for regular refractive correction use. The company sells its products to a wide variety of eye care practitioners from independent eye clinics to large contact lens retailers in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe and beyond.