PADUA, Italy—Safilo Group has announced the acquisition of a further 24.4 percent interest in Lenti S.r.l., a manufacturer of sun lenses based in Bergamo, Italy. Safilo Group, already owning 75.6 percent of Lenti, now expands its ownership to a 100 percent share of the company.

“The acquisition further reinforces Safilo’s stronghold in lens manufacture where the Group already plays an innovator role thanks to Polaroid, the inventor of the original polarized lenses and Smith Chroma Pop technology. With Lenti, Safilo is in a position to use uniquely advanced processes and technology for the development and production of state-of-the-art decorated lenses that are currently setting the trend for the most sought after fashion-luxury brands around the world,” the company said the a statement.

Lenti, founded in 1995 through the partnership of several optical production specialists, is led by Marco Negri and Safilo. Today, Lenti designs, develops and manufactures lenses end-to-end.

Luisa Delgado, CEO of Safilo Group said, “Sun lenses are the new frontier ‘Beyond the Frame.’ They are an integral part and a unique differentiator for our most precious eyewear designs. With Lenti, we confirm our strategic commitment to sun lens innovation, research and development to exclusively create lens designs with unique craftsmanship. We are excited about the industry leading research of our Lenti R&D team, and very happy to count on Marco’s continued expertise and contribution for this journey.”

She continued, “With this investment, we add another brick to the 2020 Global Supply Network Reinvention. As is happening at our manufacturing sites, we are also investing here in people, tools, machinery and processes, to increase innovation, quality, capacity and to reduce time to market. It is our aim to serve more of our brands with our most cutting-edge, high design and decorative lenses.”