AARHUS, Denmark and PARIS—Executives of ProDesign International A/S and Architectures SAS (founder of the Face A Face and Woow brands) further elaborated on the potential of the combination of the companies under the banner of the Danish private equity fund Erhvervsinvest. The deal was signed Thursday, June 12 and reported last Friday by VMail.

In a statement, the execs described the deal as a “merger” whereby Architectures’ founders, Pascal Jaulent and Nadine Roth, “will continue as shareholders in the joint company and will still be the driving forces in Architectures.”

It added, “These two companies, which are complementing each other through their positioning and their organization, and the synergies of their mutual assets, will allow each entity to accelerate its development and the group to become a strong player on the market of independent designer brands.”

ProDesign International A/S and Architectures SAS, with respective sales of 95 percent and 85 percent on export markets, are both showing a strong growth, the statement read, noting, “The expected sales of the new group for 2014 should reach about €40 million.”

Dion Eriksen, CEO, ProDesign International commented, “Face a Face is undoubtedly one of the strongest independent designer brands in the world and will, together with the product portfolio of ProDesign, establish an even stronger position in the market. We look very much forward to benefit from the high experience contributed [from] each company.”

Pascal Jaulent, president of Architectures stated, “The common design culture and international position of ProDesign and Face A Face is a great opportunity for the development of our brands. This strategic alliance will also reinforce our capacities to adapt to the future challenges of the optical market.”