Luxottica Group (LUX), the world's biggest eyewear maker, says it will buy U.S. sunglasses maker Oakley in an all-cash deal worth about $2.1 billion.
Luxottica, an Italian company whose many brands include Ray-Ban, chanel and Prada, said the combination would offer economies of scale and an opportunity to create new eyewear categories.

Luxottica will buy all the outstanding shares of Oakley for $29.30 a share, the companies said in a joint statement.

The offer represents a 16% premium to Oakley's Wednesday close of $25.23 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Luxottica, based in Milan, expects the deal to lead to savings of about 100 million euros ($134 million) over the next three years. It will pay for the deal from operating cash flow, available credit, and credit facilities to be available at the closing.

The deal has been unanimously approved by both boards of directors, and the companies expect the deal to close in the second half.

Oakley, based in Foothill Ranch, Calif., has been scaling back its apparel and footwear lines, while beefing up its optics portfolio. This year it bought Eyewear Safety Systems, a company that supplies protective eyewear to the military, law enforcement and firefighters.

Last year, Oakley bought luxury brand Oliver Peoples and retail chain The Optical Shop of Aspen, while launching a women's optical line.

Jim Jannard, Oakley's chairman and founder, said, "Oakley will continue to be Oakley but with much greater resources and a platform for realizing the true potential of our brand and company."