D.K. Kim, founder
of CSC Labs.

DALLAS— Essilor International (Reuters: ESSI.PA) has acquired CSC Laboratories, the second largest independent laboratory company in the U.S., VMail has learned. 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, which also operates a lab in San Jose, Calif., generated net sales of $34.5 million in 2011, with Rx sales of $32.8 million, according to Vision Monday’s Top Labs Report. It produces about 1,860 jobs a day and has 170 employees. In addition to being a major producer of ophthalmic lenses and coating, CSC distributes an extensive line of private label ophthalmic frames. CSC serves the U.S. market, Central and South America and the Caribbean.

Kim will remain with CSC for the next three years, according to sources close to the company.

Essilor is the largest wholesale lab operator in the U.S. The company, which operates 137 locations, generated net sales of $1.1 billion in 2011, with Rx sales of $995.1 million, according to VM’s Top Labs Report.