Italy's Safilo says will not make rival bid for Inspecs

(Sharecast News) - Italian eyewear maker Safilo on Monday said it would not make a rival offer for Inspecs after the UK company last week accepted a £85.4m bid from private equity house Risk Capital and property developer Ian Livingstone.

In a short statement Safilo said it noted the consortium offer and reserved its right to re-enter the race if a third party made a counter bid.

The consortium has offered 84p a share, a107.41% premium to Inspecs' closing price of 40.5 pence on October 22 when the approach was first made.

Inspecs said its board had unanimously recommended the acquisition, with directors controlling a combined 19% of the company committing to vote in favour of the deal.

Livingstone co-founded London & Regional Group, a global portfolio of commercial real estate and hospitality assets worth more than £10bn.

Risk capital was established by Luke Johnson who has served as chairman of PizzaExpress during its rapid expansion in the 1990s and the Gail's Bakeries chain.

The consortium said Inspecs' financial performance has been below market expectations in recent years as it operated against a backdrop of highly challenging market conditions.

It added that it had also faced weak consumer demand in continental Europe, particularly in Germany where the impact of the war in Ukraine was most pronounced and a significant reduction in sales to GrandVision after it was sold to EssilorLuxottica.

Demand was also disrupted by US President Donald Trump's global tariffs which hit Inspecs' main factory locations in China and Vietnam.

"Inspecs has also faced challenges with the performance of certain business areas, for example its Norville lens manufacturing site that was discontinued this year as it remained loss-making as a result of insufficient scale," they added.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com