BRUSSELS -
Green light
under EU Antitrust conditions
for EssilorLuxottica
's
purchase of GrandVision
.
The Brussels approval is conditional on full compliance with the package of commitments offered by EssilorLuxottica to preserve competition on the market.
Today's decision follows
an in-depth investigation by the EU Antitrust on the possibility that the over 7 billion offer
of the Italian-French eyewear giant, EssilorLuxottica, for Dutch optician retailer GrandVision could lead to a weakening of competition in product markets. opticians (lenses and glasses) in Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands due to the already strong position of the two companies.
For Italy, in particular, Brussels had noted that the transaction would create the largest retail group in the sector, with significant risks for competition.
To allay the fears identified by the EU Antitrust, EssilorLuxottica offered to divest part of its retail operations in each of the countries where the Commission had concerns.
In Italy, the group will divest a total of 174 stores
, including the entire VistaSi chain of EssilorLuxottica and 72 stores of the 'GrandVision by' chain.
The VistaSi brand will be transferred and the 'GrandVision by' stores will be renamed VistaSi or with the buyer's brand.
The remedies proposed by the Italian-French multinational convinced the EU Antitrust, which concluded that the proposed transaction, subject to full compliance with the commitments, no longer raises competition problems.
"The corrective measures proposed by EssilorLuxottica will avoid" the risk of market distortion, "by ensuring that competition at the level of retail optical products remains buoyant nationwide, to the benefit of customers in these countries," explained the vice president of the EU Commission, Margrethe Vestager.
