ZANESVILLE, Ohio— Essilor International (Reuters: ESSI.PA) announced yesterday that it has acquired Carskadden Optical Company, a 66-year-old Zanesville, Ohio wholesale lab with $1.7 million in revenue. An Essilor spokesperson confirmed to VMail that Carskadden Optical’s owners, Tom and Leslie Calopy, will remain with the company. The transaction was done through Select Optical, an Essilor lab based in Columbus, Ohio, the spokesperson told VMail.

Essilor reported the Carskadden Optical acquisition along with its third quarter 2012 financial results (see related story below in Financial News). Essilor also noted two other recent acquisitions that were previously reported in VMail, Balester Optical of Wilkes-Barre, Pa. and Hirsch Optical of Farmingdale, N.Y.

Essilor continues to expand its holdings globally as well. The lens maker said it agreed to acquire a majority stake in Movisia, the exclusive distributor for Nikon and Kodak brand lenses in Morocco. The Casablanca-based company has almost €1 million in revenue.

In South Africa, Essilor said it acquired a majority interest in Evolution Optical, a prescription laboratory with revenue of €1.2 million formed by the merger of Uniti Optical and Progress Optical, based respectively in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Evolution Optical is now an exclusive agent for BBGR lenses in this market of 50 million people, only 20 percent of whom have corrective eyewear.

Essilor announced that it has entered the Sri Lankan market by acquiring a controlling interest in Global Vision, a prescription laboratory and distributor with around €1 million in revenue. As a result, the company will be able to promote its technologies and brands in a market with 20 million inhabitants. In addition, the company said it completed the acquisition of Opak in Turkey.