Cooper Agrees to Buy British Contact Maker

Cooper Cos. Inc. said Thursday it has agreed to acquire Aspect Vision Care, a privately held British manufacturer of contact lenses, for $51 million in cash and notes.

Cooper said it also will pay an additional amount later based on Aspect’s performance.

The acquisition gives Cooper and its CooperVision Inc. contact lens business a broader foreign reach. Earlier this year, CooperVision entered into an agreement with a Japanese manufacturer to market CooperVision’s line of contact lenses in Japan and other Asian countries.

Aspect will keep its name and management but will operate as part of CooperVision.

Aspect adds not only new markets in Europe but new manufacturing technology to CooperVision, giving the company the capability to make disposable lenses.

The Southampton, England, company is expected to add $45 million in revenue to CooperVision, giving the overall business an estimated $125 million in revenue for fiscal 1998, Cooper said in its release.