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NEW YORK—2012 has been a busy year so far for several of VM’s Top Labs.

The year got off to a fast start in early January, when Essilor International announced it had acquired CSC Laboratories, which ranked number two in VM’s 2011 Top Labs Report. The purchase price was not announced.

Based in Watsonville, Calif., CSC Laboratories was owned by the Kim family, which retains a minority share. The company is headed by D.K. Kim, who founded the company in 1967. CSC Laboratories also operates a branch in San Jose, Calif.

Essilor also announced in January that it had acquired Professional Ophthalmic Laboratories in Roanoke, Va.

Also in January, VSP Global acquired a majority interest in two wholesale prescription laboratories that it owns in partnership with Carl Zeiss Vision: Perfect Optics in Vista, Calif. and CZV Florida in Clearwater, Fla. The Perfect Optics transaction involved VSP buying out shares of the company owned by individual members of its management team. Perfect Optics was ranked as the 16th largest U.S. independent wholesale lab in Vision Monday’s 2011 Top Labs Report.

With the ownership shift at CZV Florida, the lab has changed its name to Zeiss/VSP Lab, Tampa Bay. Carl Zeiss Vision retains a minority position in both Perfect Optics and CZV Florida.

In April, Essilor announced that it acquired a majority interest in Optic Blue, a prescription laboratory based in Lubbock, Texas. Optic Blue ranked 25th among U.S. independent labs in VM’s 2011 Top Labs Report.

In May, Essilor acquired a majority interest in Central Optical in Youngstown, Ohio. Owner Lloyd Yazbek retains a share of the company which generates $11 million in annual revenue, according to Essilor. In a related development, Yazbek and his wife, Linda Yazbek, purchased a minority interest in Optical One, another Youngstown-based wholesale lab in which Essilor owns a majority share. Yazbek remains president of Central Optical.

Hoya Vision Care announced in July that it had acquired New South Optical Laboratories in Greenville, S.C. and is operating the lab under the Hoya Greenville banner.

In other Top Labs news, Adam Cherry, a partner in Cherry Optical in Green Bay, Wis., acquired a majority stake in the company. Cherry Optical was founded by his parents, Joe and Lynn Cherry, in 1999.

This month, VSP Labs changed its name to VSPOne Optical Technology Centers. ■

akarp@jobson.com