1-800-CONTACTS Gets Acquired For $900 Million
Ever since companies got the green light to sell contact lenses online the marketplace itself has been served by eager participants looking to eat an ever increasing larger piece of the pie. 1-800-Contacts was one of those companies that steadily cemented itself as one of the top tier suppliers of contact lenses and so its acquisition by Wellpoint is big news.
Wellpoint of course is a big player in the health benefits space and so its $900 million acquisition of 1-800-Contacts will no doubt rattle a few in the industry. What’s more, 1-800-Contacts is much more than just a contact lens retailer. The company also sells high-end eye wear and does a lot of business through Glasses.com. The company also owns Contacts.com.
With this purchase Wellpoint gets to leverage the direct B2C model and will be able to tap into the 3.3 million customers that are presently served by 1-800-Contacts. The back-end opportunities are going to be massive and so the nearly $1 billion price tag looks justified in many respects. We also can’t forget that unlike most of the social media purchases that are flying about these days, this one is based on ‘tangibles’ and the risk rewards can be better measured.
The finer points of the deal are yet to be disclosed but by all accounts the sale will be wrapped up soon.
(Source: sitetrail.com)
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