the company was acquired in late 1968 by british film producer harry saltzman who then founded the éclair-debrie (uk) ltd. company and moved production to the united kingdom. meanwhile, soremec-cehess took over the french side of the company and resumed production in france, so english eclair cameras (similar to the french product with minor differences) were manufactured simultaneously for a few years until éclair-debrie (uk) ltd ceased activities in 1973. production then continued in france with a good degree of success, but the company eventually declined in the late-1970s and early-1980s until it was eventually sold to aaton s.a. in 1986 who ceased all camera production, offering only a license for maintenance of the many existing cameras.