The Eye Wars Are Over

Moulin International Holdings Ltd. (Hong Kong) has announced it will not proceed at this time with its proposed bid to acquire Cole National Corp. (Twinsburg, Ohio).

That leaves the road open for the agreed-upon purchase of the 3000-unit optical chain (Sears Optical, BJ’s Optical Department, Target Optical and Pearle Vision stores) by the Luxottica Group S.p.A. (Milan, Italy).

, The two international eyewear chains had been offering battling bids to Cole’s directors and shareholders since January.

Last week, Cole stockholders voted to accept Luxottica’s offer of $27.50 per share in cash.

“We have always considered a price of $25 per share to be a reasonable valuation of the company,” said Moulin ceo Cary Ma, “and therefore it is not in the interest of Moulin or its shareholders to pursue a higher bid.”

“Moving downstream into the retail sector is an important growth strategy in our international arena,” said Moulin chairman Ma Bo Kee. “Going forward, we will continue to aggressively explore possible acquisition, merger and/or business combination opportunities in the optical retail market. Expansion into retail will allow the company to control the entire supply chain network, creating substantial synergies that can secure long-term profitability. Our team remains strong and we are as confident in our ability to carve a lasting niche for the company in the global eyewear market.”