Essilor Luxottica deal to be placed under EU’s microscope

Thorough vetting of the proposed merger of Luxottica and Essilor will be required by European antitrust authorities, the head of the EU Commission’s competition watchdog has said.

Documents filed with the EU Commission showed it was officially notified of the €47bn merger on August 22.

EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said it was too early to say whether approval would require the companies to make significant concessions on the terms of the merger.

A negative reaction from Essilor’s customers to the merger, which the company said in July had affected its first-half sales, has raised concerns among some analysts that the two companies may be required to make more substantial concessions to satisfy the competition regulators than initially anticipated.