SPECTACLE manufacturer Crown Eyeglass looks set to go private after being overlooked on the stock market.

The Blackburn-based firm has recommended a 90p-a-share offer for the company from a management buyout team led by founder Joe Lee.

In common with many smaller firms on the stock market, Crown Eyeglass's share price has performed poorly in recent years.

Institutional investors such as pension funds have moved away from investing in smaller firms to concentrate on major companies.

The 90p-a-share offer has been recommended to shareholders by Alan Watson, the independent director.

"Against a background of poor trading conditions in Sweden, an increasingly competitive environment in the UK and the low stock market rating of the company, I believe the offer provides shareholders with the opportunity of realising their investment on a fair and reasonable basis," said Mr Watson.

The offer values the company at £1.44million and represents a premium of 28 per cent to the closing price of the shares on June 14 when the firm first announced it was in talks about a possible buyout.