Coastal Contacts founder Roger Hardy back in eyewear business with U.S. acquisition

Vancouver entrepreneur and financier Roger Hardy is getting back into the online eyewear business, five years after selling his publicly traded Coastal Contacts Inc. for $430-million.

Mr. Hardy’s investment firm Hardy Capital announced Wednesday it has purchased privately held LD Vision Group, a 17-year-old Toronto-based firm which it described as North America’s second largest independent direct retailer in eyecare, with sales of about $50-million last year. Hardy Capital said it plans to announce “broader expansion plans” into the eyewear industry in the coming months. The deal follows an investment by the Vancouver firm last year in Privé Revaux, a maker of trendy eyewear targeted at millennials.After selling Coastal to Essilor International SA, Mr. Hardy led an unsuccessful foray into the online shoe selling business, backing and briefly leadingTechnologies Inc, which shut down and filed for creditor protection in early 2017.

Mr. Hardy was unavailable for an interview but said in a release “we’re thrilled to be partnering” with LD principals Arhsil Abdulla, Fayaz Abdulla and Sean Mitha. Hardy Capital’s other investments include real estate development projects in Vancouver and B.C. and venture financing to a range of early stage companies in North America.

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