ROANOKE, Va.--Essilor of America (EOA) is planning to eventually move production of the Definity progressive lens product line to its own manufacturing facilities after a transition period with Johnson & Johnson's Spectacle Lens Group.

Essilor received the approval necessary from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to complete the acquisition, previously announced on June 8, 2005, of the ophthalmic lens business of The Spectacle Lens Group division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care and the deal has now closed.

An Essilor spokesperson told VM that John Hogan, current head of the J&J Spectacle Lens Group announced the news late last month to employees at the J&J facility here. He told the group that Essilor will lease the Roanoke facility from J&J until early 2006, after which time TSLG manufacturing operations will be entirely transferred to other Essilor manufacturing facilities. A transition phase from now until that time is underway.

An unspecified number of Spectacle Lens Group employees would be offered full-time positions with Essilor and others are being asked to participate in the transition but no further specifics are available, the spokesperson said.

The Essilor spokesperson added, “We will continue to market and grow the Definity product line and we are excited about its future. Specific marketing plans are being determined and we will communicate our intentions to our customers in the near future. At this time, customers will continue to order Definity via the same processes as they did prior to the Essilor acquisition. Product will continue to be manufactured by the Roanoke facility through the transition phase, at the end of which a seamless transition to other Essilor manufacturing facilities will be completed.”