PPG Industries, Inc. announced the successful completion of the previously announced sale to Essilor International of its 51 percent ownership interest in its Transitions Optical joint venture and PPG's wholly-owned sunlens business. Essilor International had held a 49 percent interest in the Transitions Optical joint venture.
As previously indicated, the transaction reflects an enterprise value of approximately $3.4 billion, with PPG receiving cash at closing of $1.73 billion pre-tax or approximately $1.5 billion after-tax, subject to certain post-closing adjustments and transaction costs. In 2013, the Transitions Optical joint venture and sunlens business had combined net sales of $874 million.
Currently, all Transitions Optical sales are consolidated in PPG's financial statements. Essilor's minority share of the joint venture's net earnings is reflected as a reduction to PPG's net income and presented in the financial statements as "income attributable to non-controlling interests." In accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), the Transitions Optical joint venture and sunlens business results will be classified as "Discontinued Operations" in future PPG financial releases. Prior periods will be recast to conform to this presentation. In addition, PPG has updated its 2014 tax rate guidance on ongoing earnings from continuing operations, with the company now anticipating this rate to be in the range of 23.5 percent to 24.5 percent.
