Lens maker Essilor to buy Signet Armorlite

PARIS, Jan 15 (Reuters) - French eye lenses maker Essilor (ESSI.PA) has agreed to buy Signet Armorlite, a U.S. manufacturer of opthalmic lenses with revenues of more than $130 million, the French company said on Thursday.

The acquisition was being carried out by its U.S. subsidiary EOA Holding Co Inc, Essilor said, adding that it expected the transaction to be completed in the first half of the year.

Essilor did not disclose how much it paid for Signet Armorlite.

Essilor shares closed at 32.19 euros on Wednesday, giving the firm a market capitalisation of around 7 billion euros. The stock has fallen around 4 percent since the start of 2009 and fell 23 percent last year. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)