BLOOMINGTON, Ill.—Keplr Vision, a management organization that offers a comprehensive operational and support platform for optometric practices, announced on Wednesday a series of transactions involving eyecare practices in the Pacific Northwest. Among the transactions are the acquisition of the practices operated by optometric industry leaders Dr. Bradley Smith and Dr. David Wolf. The two businesses consist of a total of four locations and are now under the umbrella of the Keplr management organization, according to the announcement.

The terms of the transactions were not disclosed, a spokesman told VMAIL.

Drs. Smith and Wolf are two of the co-founders of Professional Eye Care Associates of America (PECAA). The two ECPs are not currently affiliated with PECCA, a collaborative group and buying organization, and neither is Keplr affiliated with PECAA or its supporting member programs, the spokesman noted.

In addition, Keplr announced on Wednesday partnerships with Dr. Todd Sheldon of Central Oregon Eyecare (five practice locations) and Dr. Daniel Robison of Cascadia Eyecare. The series of transactions announced Wednesday bring the Keplr optometric group to 22 practices across the Pacific Northwest Region with additional partnerships to follow in 2020, the announcement noted. Keplr currently has approximated 150 practice locations across 29 states.

Keplr Vision was formed in July 2019 when two portfolio companies of Canada’s Imperial Capital—Total ECP and Visionary Eye Partners—merged to operate as a combined entity under the Keplr name, as VMAIL reported.

In the transactions announced Wednesday, Keplr announced the affiliation with a number of recognized Pacific Northwest eyecare practices. Dr. Smith practices at Tigard Vision Center in Tigard, Ore., a practice his father had started in 1962 and which he joined in 1987. He soon opened two additional locations in neighboring communities: West Linn Vision Center and Murray Sholls Vision Center.

Following his success, he was awarded the Oregon Optometric Physicians Association’s Young Optometrist of the Year in 1997, according to the Keplr announcement.

Dr. Wolf purchased Lake Oswego Vision Center in 1998, where he has practiced for over 20 years. A member of the American Optometric Association and the Oregon Optometric Physicians Association, Dr. Wolf is also a past member of Medicare’s Carrier Advising Committee and Eye Health Partners Board of Directors.

“Our affiliation with Keplr Vision marks the next chapter for our practices and our legacies,” Dr. Smith said. “We are now part of an exclusive group of doctors dedicated to advancing the science and profession of optometry.”

Dr. Wolf added, “Further, we know our teams are taken care of as we all work together to make patient care the focus of our business.”

Keplr Vision chief executive officer Nick Williams said the decision by Dr. Smith and Dr. Wolf to join Keplr Vision’s alliance of partner doctors is “a tremendous boost to what we are building in the Pacific Northwest.”

He added, “We continue to partner with the best in the industry and are excited to have these innovative doctors join us.”

Keplr Vision’s partner ODs include Dr. Ben Gaddie, Dr. Alan Glazier and Dr. Eric Schmidt, among other notable ECPs, the announcement noted. With 150 practices across 29 states, Keplr Vision said it brings together private practice optometrists who focus on pushing the practice of optometry forward.

Through a collaborative partnership, Keplr offers OD partners robust business support services and supply chain management, allowing doctors to focus on their practice and their patients while retaining their legacy, the management firm noted.