Essilor and Luxottica Group have announced plans to merge after an agreement with Luxottica majority stakeholder Delfin was sealed today.
The deal ‘would allow the combined group to better seize growth opportunities resulting from strong demand in the eyewear market, driven by the increasing need for corrective and protective eyewear and the appetite for strong brands’, a statement said.
The companies vowed to ‘create a key player, operating across all segments of the eyewear industry’.
The statement said that together, Luxottica and Essilor would have more than 140,000 employees and sales in more than 150 countries. Based on the companies’ 2015 results, they would have combined net revenues of more than €15bn and profits of €3.5bn. Cost synergies ranged from €400m to €600m in the medium term, accelerating over the long term, the statement added.
The deal was estimated to be worth €46bn by news agency Reuters.
Leonardo Del Vecchio, chairman of Delfin and executive chairman of Luxottica Group, added: ‘With this agreement my dream to create a major global player in the eyewear industry, fully integrated and excellent in all its parts, comes finally true. It was some time now that we knew that this was the right solution but only today are there the right conditions to make it possible. The marriage between two key companies in their sectors will bring great benefits to the market, for employees and mainly for all our consumers. Finally, after fifty years, two products which are naturally complementary, namely frames and lenses, will be designed, manufactured and distributed under the same roof.’
More to follow in Optician.