Riata Capital Group's Eyecare Platform, Acuity Eyecare Group, Announces Appointment of New Chief Exe

 Riata Capital Group ("Riata") today announced that Eric Anderson has joined Acuity Eyecare Group ("Acuity"), a Riata portfolio company that owns and operates leading North American eyecare groups and optometry practices, as Chief Executive Officer. Anderson is a proven industry leader who brings over three decades of business and optical industry experience spanning multi-billion dollar companies across both domestic and international markets. He most recently served as Executive Vice President at Fossil Group, leading its $3 billion multi-brand licensed portfolio. Prior to Fossil, he spent almost 20 years at Luxottica in several prominent leadership positions, including President and GM of LensCrafters North America.

Riata also announced that Acuity has acquired two new regional eyecare groups: One Hour Optical, based in Denver, and 20/20 Image Eye Centers, based in Phoenix. Including these two acquisitions, Acuity now operates more than 70 optometry locations across eight states, owns a large full-service digital lab operation, and expects to grow to over 100 locations by mid-2018.

"Acuity is off to a strong start and we are very excited about what lies ahead under Eric Anderson's leadership," said Jeff Fronterhouse, Managing Partner of Riata Capital Group. "Eric is a proven industry leader who brings tremendous optical experience, a strategic vision for growth, and a track record for developing great talent. Eric joined Acuity's board in October of 2017, and we have been able to see Eric's impact firsthand. His exceptional leadership skills, and passion for growth and people, will be critical to realizing our future potential in the marketplace."

Regarding the acquisitions of One Hour Optical and 20/20 Image Eye Centers, Fronterhouse said, "We are excited to have successfully completed these recent acquisitions. They are both strong additions to our existing Acuity portfolio and provide expansion into new markets that are dynamic and growing."

Acuity is the second platform investment of the Riata principals in the eyecare sector. From 2011 to 2015, certain of the principals organized and led the very successful investment in Vision Source, a market-leading network of independent optometry practices across the United States. Under the leadership of a very seasoned management team, Vision Source grew from 2,300 to over 3,150 locations, making its network of member optometrists second only to Walmart in terms of number of locations. Vision Source was sold to Essilor USA in late 2015, generating strong returns for its investors.

About Eric Anderson 
Prior to joining Acuity, Anderson served as Executive Vice President at Fossil Group leading their $3 Billion multi-brand licensed portfolio. Previous to Fossil, he spent almost 20 years at Luxottica in several prominent leadership positions including President and GM of LensCrafters North America, Chief Executive and GM of GMO Opticas in Santiago, Chile, GM of Target Optical, VP Marketing and Business Development for Pearle Vision, and VP at Sunglass Hut.

About One Hour Optical
Founded in 1968 and currently owned by Kevin Breslaw, One Hour Optical is a Denver-based eyecare group with 4 full-service eyecare centers located in Denver, Aurora, Greenwood Village and Thornton, and 1 location in the Denver Health Hospital. One Hour Optical's top priority is customer care and offers affordable vision services and comprehensive eye exams with caring, knowledgeable opticians. Additionally, they offer a wide variety of styles and brands of eyeglasses, sunglasses, contact lenses and safety wear. 

About 20/20 Image Eye Centers
Founded in 1996 by Dr. Tom Babu and Dr. Vasvi Babu, 20/20 Image Eye Centers is a Phoenix-based eyecare group with 5 full-service eyecare centers located in Tempe, Scottsdale, Glendale, Fountain Hills and Chandler. 20/20 Image Eye Centers offer the highest quality of vision care with courtesy and compassion. 20/20 Image Eye Centers takes a complete approach to caring for its patients and offers a full-range of optical services, comprehensive eye exams and an extensive line of eyeglasses, sunglasses, and contact lenses. 

About Riata Capital Group, LLC
Riata Capital Group is a leading Dallas-based private equity investment firm that partners with seasoned management teams to invest in growing, profitable, privately-held companies across North America with a focus on four core industry sectors: consumer, energy, healthcare, and business solutions. The firm takes a selective approach to investing in high-potential businesses whose owners and management teams want an investment partner with the capital, experience, and record of successful collaboration required to achieve their liquidity and value-creation objectives. Over the course of their careers, the principals of Riata have sponsored over 55 platform investments and 75 add-on acquisitions representing over $4 billion in transaction value. With significant investment experience, a balanced team with financial and operating expertise, a strong team of seasoned operating partners, and significant experience in the firm's core sectors, Riata provides a compelling value proposition to business owners and entrepreneurs.

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