For the first time in its 52-year history, Fielmann entered a market outside of Europe last summer with the acquisition of two American companies. This move follows the „Vision 2025“ strategy introduced in 2019, aiming to expand into new markets alongside digitalization and omnichannel platform development. In recent years, the Hamburg-based company expanded into Slovenia by acquiring the national market leader Optika Clarus in 2019. At the end of 2020, Fielmann took over the then third-largest Spanish optical chain, Óptica & Audiología Universitaria, thereby entering its 15th European market. With the medium-term goal of becoming the market leader in Spain, Fielmann expanded its presence through the acquisition of Medical Óptica Audición, a leading company in the Basque Country, which was announced two years later.

With this accelerated internationalization, Germany's largest optician chain is broadening its revenue base. According to preliminary figures, the share of international revenues in the company's turnover, which rose by 12% to nearly 2 billion euros in the last fiscal year, has increased from 21% in 2019 to 35%. Through the acquisition of the US-based optician SVS Vision and the Canadian company Eyevious Style, which facilitates online eyewear purchases through the Befitting platform, Fielmann is now present in the world's largest optical market. This opens up further opportunities for revenue diversification, especially since the foundation for the US business has been laid with 82 stores in nine states. Fielmann describes this as the first step in a long-term plan aimed at enhancing customer orientation in the world's largest market. For this transaction, the family-owned company received the Corporate Finance Award from Börsen-Zeitung in the M&A Mid & Small Caps category.

The internationalization makes the company more future-proof, as per CFO Steffen Bätjer. „We are less dependent on individual markets and can spread strategic investments and central functions more broadly, buffering against fluctuating consumer sentiment." He also highlights significant economic potential, noting that the US market is four times larger than Germany in terms of population and more than ten times larger in terms of industry turnover. As of September 30, the company operated 615 out of a total of 1,075 branches in Germany.

Moreover, the optical market in the US is considered less consolidated compared to Europe. The market share of large optical chains in the US is estimated at just under 24%. „That's roughly equivalent to Fielmann's market share in Germany alone", Bätjer explains. Additionally, online eyewear sales in the US, at 14%, are significantly higher than the 2% share in Germany. „That's why the market is very interesting for our omnichannel business model", adds the Fielmann CFO.

The company, whose beginnings date back to the opening of its first store in Cuxhaven in September 1972 by long-time company boss Günther Fielmann – who died in January of this year – believes that its customer-oriented philosophy offers good opportunities for growth in the US. Bätjer points out that the US market has many unmet customer needs, such as long wait times for eye exams. Additionally, in the heavily insurance-driven US market, it is very complex for customers to understand the pricing of eyewear. „Here, we want to provide more transparency and affordability", says Bätjer.

The company also relies on the market expertise of Lukas Rücker, who leads Fielmann's US operations. Prior to joining Fielmann, Rücker worked for more than a decade at the eyewear manufacturer Luxottica. Under his leadership, Eyemed Vision Care became the fastest-growing vision insurance provider.

Fielmann also needs to adapt to different customer expectations compared to its home market. „While opticians enjoy a good reputation among customers here in Germany, there is relatively high dissatisfaction with the industry in the US", states CFO Bätjer. The company believes that with its customer-oriented philosophy and the integration of the insurance offerings developed by the Befitting platform, it can offer added value to customers in the US. This includes providing customers with the best possible service, excellent advice, and high product quality. As evidence, the Fielmann CFO cites the recent business performance: „Our US subsidiary has already achieved double-digit growth in the first two months of the year compared to the previous year, making it the fastest-growing entity within the Fielmann Group.“

However, Bätjer acknowledges that profitability in the US business needs improvement. Currently, the operating margin is lower than in Germany. Over the next two years, Fielmann aims to bring the US business to the target EBITDA margin of 25% associated with the „Vision 2025“ strategy. „We will achieve this through higher walk-in-customers in branches, decades of know-how in process optimization, and our customer-oriented philosophy that has made us successful", notes the CFO optimistically.

Bätjer's confidence is also linked to Fielmann's successful establishment of a management team in the US and the valuable experiences gained in the US market in recent months. He expresses satisfaction with the progress of integrating SVS Vision and the Befitting platform. The goal is to create a unique, customer-friendly omnichannel platform – with most of the investments for this initiative coming from the US.

Fielmann continues to refrain from publicly disclosing the purchase price for SVS Vision. This was agreed upon with the long-standing owners of the family-owned company, says Bätjer. The transaction was reportedly financed from operational cash flow, with only a short-term bridge loan needed. The largest international expansion step in the history of the SDax-listed company was the acquisition of SVS Vision, which is based in the US state of Michigan, and contributed approximately 30 million euros to last year's firm turnover from September 2023.

The CFO did not outline specific strategies for Fielmann's continued expansion into the US market. Presently, the company is exploring avenues to enhance its US operations, including potential acquisitions. Moreover, the company identifies additional growth prospects in Eastern Europe and Spain, as indicated in the forthcoming 2023 annual report scheduled for release on April 30th.