3 Reasons Bollé Sunglasses Acquired SPY Optics

The action sports business is fuelled by big brands which is why, when SPY Optics built a style popular with irreverent teens, eyewear bemouth Bollé decided they had to own them.

To read a transcript of this episode, click here.

The action sports business is fuelled by big brands which is why, when SPY Optics built a style popular with irreverent teens, eyewear bemouth Bollé decided they had to own them.

This episode of Built to Sell Radio features SPY’s president and major shareholder Stephen Roseman who described what he did to beef up SPY’s value prior to Bollé’s acquisition. This interview includes a number of important insights for value builders such as:

• Invest Cash In What Drives Your Value: one of Roseman’s first moves as a SPY shareholder and its president was to jettison the factories SPY owned in Italy. He reasoned SPY could contract with a manufacturing plant to make their lenses elsewhere while selling the factories would free up the cash to invest in building their brand.
• Find Multiple Sources of Supply: Roseman knew becoming too dependent on one supplier for his lens would undermine any value he created by getting out of the manufacturing business, so he was sure to set up relationships with multiple manufacturers capable of making SPY products.
• Do Something Different: SPY came up with their “Happy Lens” technology which lets a spectrum of light through which apparently improves the mood of whoever wears them. The Happy Lens technology and brand served to further differentiate SPY and make its brand durable in the face of fickle consumers.

There many more pearls of wisdom in this conversation with Stephen Roseman.

Roseman cautions owners to avoid making superficial improvements to their business leading up to a sale as most professional acquirers will discover your short-term fixes during diligence. Instead, Roseman recommends you “build the house you want to live in” by which he means to make long term decisions that render your business better for the long haul, not just more attractive to an acquirer in the short term.  Want to know how your business measures on the eight factors that long-term investors care about? Get your Value Builder Score and we’ll make recommendations for improving your durability and appeal to an acquirer.

Check out our article on How To Build A Personal Brand Without Compromising The Value Of Your Business.

Check out our full M&A Glossary

About Our Guest

Stephen Roseman joined the board of SPY in July 2009 and served as CEO from October of 2018 through
the successful sale and transition of the Company in January 2020. He also served on multiple committees as public company board member, including audit, governance, compensation and executive committee of the board. He is an alumni of the Harvard Business School, Class 52, OPM program, has received a M.B.A. from Fordham University Gabelli School of Business, a B.A. in French Literature from Arizona State University and is a CFA® charterholder.