A Weil team is advising Berkshire Partners, a Boston-based investment firm, and National Vision Inc. (NVI), the leading independent value retailer of eyeglasses and contact lenses, in KKR’s acquisition of NVI from Berkshire Partners.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Berkshire Partners has invested in over 100 middle market companies since 1986 through eight private equity funds with aggregate capital commitments of $11 billion. National Vision is the fourth largest optical retailer in the United States, operating over 750 retail locations in 43 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. National Vision employs over 7,000 people and has several retail divisions including America’s Best Contacts & Eyeglasses, Eyeglass World, Vision Centers inside select Wal-Mart, Vista Optical inside Fred Meyer and Optical Centers on select military bases.
The Weil team representing Berkshire Partners and National Vision on the transaction includes Corporate partners David Duffell (Providence) and Shayla Harlev (Boston), who led the deal team, and Corporate associates Matt Goulding, Jakub A. Wronski, Kelly Wagner, Matthew Loecker, and Benton B. Bodamer (all from Boston); Banking & Finance partner Andrew J. Yoon (New York) and associate Benton Lewis (Dallas); Tax partner Mark Schwed (New York) and associate Tara M. Lancaster (Dallas); Environmental Transactions partner Annemargaret Connolly and counsel Matthew Morton (both from Washington, DC); Litigation partner Patrick J. O’Toole (Boston); Executive Compensation partner Michael Nissan, counsel Steven M. Margolis, and associate Joshua Gelfand (all from New York); Regulatory counsel John B. O’Loughlin (Washington, DC); Antitrust/Competition counsel Vadim Brusser (Washington, DC); and Technology & IP Transactions counsel Arlene Hahn (New York).
