| Marcolin SpA | |
| Type: | Private |
| Industry: | Eyewear |
| Founded: | 1961 |
| Founder: | Giovanni Marcolin |
| Hq Location: | Longarone |
| Hq Location Country: | Italy |
| Key People: | Fabrizio Curci (CEO) |
| Parent: | PAI Partners |
Marcolin SpA is an Italian eyewear manufacturer founded in Veneto and headquartered in Longarone. Started in 1961 by Giovanni Marcolin Coffen, the eyewear manufacturer owns and licenses twenty-five different brands, including Tom Ford, Adidas, Skechers, Christian Louboutin and Max Mara.[1] [2]
As of 2022, Marcolin had annual revenues of around €547 million. The group's annual revenues have grown every year from 2013 to 2022, with the exception of 2020. The company is presently owned by PAI Partners, a French private equity firm.
Marcolin was founded in 1961, in Veneto, by Giovanni Marcolin. The company, originally known as Fabbrica artigiana, started by manufacturing gold-laminated temples on eyewear. The company expanded to the United States in 1968, with offices in France, Switzerland, and Germany soon following. By the 1980s, Marcolin was manufacturing over a million frames per year.[3]
By 2012, Marcolin was Italy's third largest eyewear manufacturer, behind only Leonardo Del Vecchio's Luxottica and the Safilo Group. It was around this time that a majority stake in Marcolin was acquired by the French private equity firm PAI Partners, initially at 78% but increasing to 83% in December 2019.[4] By 2018, Marcolin has claimed to sell 14.6 million eyeglasses that year.[5]
Marcolin's eyewear ventures led it into a partnership with the French luxury conglomerate LVMH, which partnered with Marcolin to found Thélios, an in-house eyewear manufacturing company, with Marcolin holding a 49% stake in the venture, and LVMH further purchasing a 10% equity in Marcolin. The two companies split in December 2021, with Marcolin buying back LVMH's stake in the company and separately selling its remaining stake in Thélios to LVMH, making Thélios a wholly-owned subsidiary of LVMH.[6] [7] That same year, Marcolin acquired all of Ic! berlin, a German eyewear manufacturer.[8]
In 2024, Marcolin's private equity owners sought a valuation for the manufacturer, attracting takeover bids and interest from various companies across the sector. With a PAI valuation at around €1.3 billion, the leading bidders for the company were Kering and EssilorLuxottica, though found potential buyers in Safilo, Marchon Eyewear of the US, Italy's De Rigo, and the Hong Kong-based private equity firm FountainVest Partners. LVMH through Thélios was the sole major eyewear-focused company not mentioned as a potential suitor for Marcolin.[9]
Marcolin's proprietary and licensed brands include:[10] [11]