Capital Vision Services receives equity investment from Altas Partners and CDPQ

Capital Vision Services, LP (“CVS”), which provides management services to MyEyeDr. O.D. (“MyEyeDr.”) optometry practices, today announced that it has received an equity investment from a group led by Altas Partners (“Altas”) and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (“CDPQ”).  Altas and CDPQ are investing in partnership with CVS’ Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Sue Downes and other members of management who will continue leading the company in their current roles. Joining the investor group are several leading institutional and private investors, including Andell Inc. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 2001 by Ms. Downes and Robert Samit, O.D., CVS focuses on supporting affiliated, independent MyEyeDr. optometrists and their practices with a complete array of financial, marketing, human resources and accounting services, along with managed care credentialing and claims processing.  MyEyeDr. practices offer patients exceptional vision care services, a wide selection of prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses, and standard and specialty contact lenses.  CVS has grown from managing a single practice in the Washington D.C. metro area to managing 165 optometry practice locations in Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington D.C.  MyEyeDr. affiliated practices have grown steadily through new location openings and collaborative acquisitions, and today have nearly 2,000 employees serving approximately 1.8 million active patients throughout the United States.

“This news is about growth and opportunity and underscores the success of CVS to-date, the tremendous talent we have at every level of the organization, and our bright future,” said Ms. Downes. “I am thrilled to partner with Altas and CDPQ as we continue to grow CVS, support the MyEyeDr. optometrists, and offer MyEyeDr. patients high-quality service and care that they greatly value.  Altas and CDPQ are long-term investors who share our ownership philosophy and value our passion for helping patients.  We are excited to build on the success of the organization together in the coming years.  As our company grows, we will stay focused on what we do best – meeting all patients’ full-service vision care needs through a doctor-driven model.  Also, we thank our original investors, Monitor Clipper and Charlesbank, for their many years of support that helped drive the initial expansion of the business, and in particular thanks to Charles Yoon who has been a great partner and source of guidance.”

David Sheffer, Executive Vice President of Corporate Development at CVS, said, “We appreciate Altas and CDPQ’s confidence in CVS and our affiliated MyEyeDr. optometry practices.  This new investment underscores the strength of CVS’ financial position and market leadership, providing further capital as we pursue acquisitions and bring more outstanding optometrists into the MyEyeDr. family of affiliated practices around the country.”

Scott Werry, a Partner at Altas, commented, “Under Sue’s leadership, CVS has developed into a world-class organization that preserves and supports a doctor-driven model while delivering both high-quality care and a great selection of products and services to nearly 2 million patients.  We believe the company has tremendous opportunities for continued success.  Consistent with our investment philosophy, we bring a long-term outlook to supporting the company, and we look forward to working collaboratively with Sue and the talented team at CVS in the years ahead.”

“With this investment, CDPQ contributes to the further expansion of a company that has made a name for itself in its sector over the past 15 years with a distinctive business model,” added Andreas Beroutsos, Executive Vice President, Private Equity and Infrastructure, of CDPQ.  “From a long-term investment standpoint, CDPQ’s contribution will enable the company to carry out its growth plan.”

About Capital Vision Services, LP

Founded in 2001, Capital Vision Services, which provides management services to full-service optometry practices, is a market leader.  Its affiliated MyEyeDr. practices offer patients exceptional full-service vision care, a wide selection of prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses, and standard and specialty contact lenses.  Capital Vision Services provides affiliated, independent optometrists with a complete array of financial, marketing, human resources and accounting services, along with managed care credentialing and claims processing.  The company has grown from managing a single practice in the Washington D.C metro area in 2001 to managing 165 locations in Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington D.C.  MyEyeDr. practices have grown steadily through new location openings and collaborative acquisitions, and have nearly 2,000 employees serving approximately 1.8 million active patients throughout the United States.

About Altas Partners

Altas Partners is an investment firm with a long-term orientation focused on acquiring significant interests in high-quality, market-leading businesses in partnership with outstanding management teams.  Key elements of Altas’ approach include prudent capital structures, active ownership through strategic and operational support and an emphasis on sustainable value creation.  Altas strives to deliver outstanding investment returns for its partners.  Altas is led by seasoned private equity professionals and experienced operating executives. For more information, please visit www.altaspartners.com.

About CDPQ

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) is a long-term institutional investor that manages funds primarily for public and parapublic pension and insurance plans. As of June 30, 2015, it held $240.8 billion in net assets. As one of Canada’s leading institutional fund managers, CDPQ, which marks its 50th anniversary this year, invests globally in major financial markets, private equity, infrastructure and real estate. For more information: www.cdpq.com.