Essilor denies CIBA Vision acquisition rumour

Essilor has denied that it is looking to buy CIBA Vision after market rumours connected the French ophthalmic lens giant with drug company Novartis's contact lens division.

Reuters news agency yesterday quoted an Essilor company spokeswoman as saying: 'Essilor denies it is looking at the CIBA Vision dossier.'

Essilor is roughly twice the size of CIBA Vision with turnovers of $2.8bn and $1.4bn respectively.

Novartis has been linked with two biotech companies and it has been suggested that it may sell CIBA to help finance a deal.

Essilor sold its contact lens business, which included the Lunelle brand, to Ocular Sciences in 2001.