De Rigo creates De Rigo Vision
On November 1, 2004, the branch of De Rigo SpA which operates in the production and wholesale distribution of eyewear and eyewear products, was transferred to De Rigo Vision SpA.
The new company is fully owned by De Rigo SpA and the transfer was made for internal corporate restructuring reasons. Maurizio Dessolis, financial manager, told Il Gazzettino that 'apart from production and wholesale distribution being handled by a new company, very little has changed. There are two main reasons for this restructuring. The first is to guarantee greater transparency. The second is to facilitate any future agreements with other partners'.
According to Il Gazzettino, one possible partner could be the Viva Group. In May, De Rigo signed a non-binding letter of intent with the American company to assess the prospect of a strategic alliance which would aim at combining the production and wholesale distribution business at international level. If the two companies do reach an agreement, a new company might be set up and could include De Rigo Vision. The Viva Group would hold a minority interest in the new company and the two chains belonging to De Rigo SpA, the Spanish General Optica and the British Dollond & Aitchison, would be excluded from the operation and would continue to be headed by Ennio De Rigo and his brother Walter.
In the meantime, as far back as September De Rigo had already begun the exclusive distribution on the Italian market of some of Viva's collections (Tommy Hilfiger, Guess and Gant, in addition to Tommy Hilfiger in Greece). And last Thursday it was announced that a new license had been signed with Chopard, the international luxury goods company and creator of highly prestigious jewelry and watches.
In short, the group's latest moves aim at expansion, especially in foreign markets, as Managing Director Michele Aracri explained a few days ago to Italia Oggi: 'Over the past few years, we have made considerable changes to the corporate structure; we have increased the efficiency of all our activities and reduced indirect costs, but above all we have accelerated our internationalization policy which aims at markets in America, Russia and Asia. The United States currently represent 7-8% of our business, but billings by our direct competitors are around 50%: we want to increase this to 40% in just a few years'.
Asia, and China in particular, is also in their sights: De Rigo has already started up a joint venture for the production of eyewear in Hong Kong and envisages opening an office in Shanghai in 2005, when direct sales to opticians will also have increased, initially in Shanghai, but also in Beijing and Shenzen.
