PPG Industries, Inc. (PPG) Monday said it has reached an agreement to divest its 51 percent interest in Transitions Optical to French eye-care firm Essilor International SA (ESLOF.PK,ESLOY.PK), which currently holds a 49 percent interest in the venture.
The deal reflects an enterprise value of about $3.4 billion and PPG will receive cash of $1.73 billion pre-tax or approximately $1.5 billion after-tax at closing, subject to certain working capital and debt adjustments. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2014.
Transitions Optical is a supplier of photochromic lenses and a consolidated subsidiary of PPG. Essilor will also enter into multi-year agreements with PPG for continuing supply of optical dyes and research and development services and acquire PPG's optical sunlens business.
PPG plans to redeploy the proceeds from the transaction on core business acquisitions and share repurchases.
Charles Bunch, PPG's CEO, said, "The earnings benefits from this cash deployment are expected to more than offset the reduced earnings from the Transitions Optical divestment. Additionally, we suspended share repurchase activity at the outset of the second quarter due to ongoing negotiations, and are now reinitiating repurchases targeting a range of $500 to $750 million for the year."
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Business News
May 22, 2026 14:46 ET Minutes of the latest Fed policy session was the highlight of the week along with survey data on the U.S. housing market. In Europe, survey data signaled the trends in the euro area private sector. Further, consumer price inflation data from the U.K. was in focus. In Asia, various economic indicators from China drew attention to the health of the economy.