California-based VSP Global has agreed to acquire San Antonio eyecare retailer Visionworks for an undisclosed sum, marking the company’s largest retail investment in its 65-year history. The deal would more than double VSP’s workforce. Visionworks, the sixth-largest U.S. optical retailer, operates over 700 locations with 8,900 employees, including nearly 400 at its downtown San Antonio headquarters. VSP CEO Michael Guyette confirmed no layoffs are planned. The acquisition is the latest in a series of San Antonio companies sold to outside firms since 2016.
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California vision care company VSP Global has agreed to purchase San Antonio eyecare retailer Visionworks for an undisclosed sum, the companies stated Thursday.
California vision care company VSP Global has agreed to purchase San Antonio eyecare retailer Visionworks — the latest local company bought by an outside firm.
Company officials declined Thursday to declare how much VSP Global — based in Rancho Cordova, near Sacramento — will pay for the San Antonio-based chain or disclose other terms of the deal, which must obtain approval from regulators.
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The Visionworks acquisition constitutes VSP’s largest investment in its retail network in its 65-year history and would more than double its workforce, officials stated.
Visionworks is the sixth-largest optical retailer in the counattempt with more than 700 locations and 8,900 workers. The Visionworks purchase will give VSP’s 61,000 clients and 80-million-plus members in the U.S. a “more substantial, consistent and sustainable retail experience,” VSP CEO Michael Guyette stated in a statement.
Nearly 400 employees work at Visionworks’ headquarters at 175 E. Houston St. in downtown San Antonio. VSP doesn’t plan to lay off Visionworks employees or shift its corporate headquarters elsewhere, company spokeswoman Jace Duval stated.
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Visionworks is the latest San Antonio company lost to an outside merger or acquisition within the past three years — as the United States sees growing political push-back to corporate consolidation.
The number of mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. has steadily climbed since the Great Recession, according to data from the Institute for Mergers, Acquisitions and Alliances. More than $2 trillion worth of mergers and acquisitions took place in 2018. So far this year, the U.S. has seen almost $830 million of “M&A” transactions.
Concern over the effects of growing corporate consolidation — especially among large tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google — has spilled into the 2020 presidential race. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachutilizetts and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey each stated they plan to beef up the counattempt’s antitrust enforcement if elected president during the first Democratic primary debate Wednesday in Miami.
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In San Antonio, six major companies have been bought by a private equity firm or acquired by another company since 2016.
Earlier this month, Whataburger’s founding family agreed to sell its majority stake in the San Antonio-based burger chain to Chicago investment firm BDT Capital Partners for an undisclosed price.
Last year, Ohio-based refiner Marathon Petroleum Corp. bought Andeavor, formerly Tesoro, in 2018 for $23.3 billion with plans to operate its headquarters in Ohio. Marathon put Andeavor’s $135 million headquarters on the North Side on the market in April.
C.H. Guenther & Son Inc. sold to Chicago private equity firm Pritzker Group in April 2018 in a deal reportedly valued at $1.4 billion.
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Rackspace Hosting sold to New York private equity firm Apollo Global Management for about $4.3 billion in late 2016.
Convenience chain operator CST Brands Corp. also sold that year to the Canadian owner of Circle K, Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., for $4.4 billion. Virginia-based Pentagon Federal Credit Union bought the former site of CST’s headquarters — now Circle K’s Texas division and regional distribution center — at 19500 Bulverde Road in March.
Circle K has stated the company will remain at the property but PenFed CEO James Schenck stated in March he expects his firm to be the property’s only tenant in the coming years.
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While it’s unclear what local impact the Visionworks acquisition will have, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff stated, “It’s just very unhealthy when you narrow down competition.”
“I don’t believe it’s good for the counattempt, and I don’t believe we’re the only community that’s facing this,” Wolff stated. “In fact, I know we’re not.”
Joshua Fechter is a San Antonio-based staff writer covering real estate, economic development and philanthropy. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | jfechter@express-news.net | Twitter: @JFreports
