Marcolin creates a joint-venture in China and doubles its production in Italy

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Nov 5, 2014

Marcolin is turbocharging China and reinforcing its production site in Italy. The Italian eyewear manufacturer, owned by PAI Partners since 2012, has announced the creation of a joint-venture in China with Ginko Group, one of the main producers of eyewear in Asia, in order to accelerate its development in this market.

The joint company called Ginlin Optical Shanghai Ltd Co., is equally owned by the two groups and will be based in Shanghai. For the Italian eyewear producer, "the goal of the operation is to improve its presence in China and to beef up the direct distribution of Marcolin products," the group states in its press release.

Ginko Group was founded in 1985 in Taiwan and has been active in China since 1992, where it is considered to be "a consolidated operator of the Chinese eyewear market." It notably owns contact lens brand Hydron, the leader in the market. Listed on the stock market, it achieved revenue of 500 million dollars (£313 million) in 2013, the release indicates.

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Moreover, Marcolin is increasing its production capacity. It recently announced the acquisition of a nearly 38,000 square foot site in Longarone (Fortogna area), in the heart of the eyewear district in Veneto. The factory was previously owned by its rival Marchon, which preferred to focus on its Puos d’Alpago site. This new site will allow Marcolin to double its production in Italy as of the second half of 2015. The investment is estimated to be 4 million dollars (£2.5 million).

Marcolin, which manufactures and distributes several collections of big name glasses under license like Tom Ford, Montblanc, Balenciaga, Roberto Cavalli, Dsquared2 and Diesel, recently signed license agreements with Ermenegildo Zegna and Emilio Pucci.