Update 2: The European Union approves the acquisition of Grandvision

Update 2: The European Union approves the acquisition of Grandvision

Tuesday 23 March 2021 6:17 PM

(ABM FN-Dow Jones) The European Commission conditionally agreed to EssilorLuxottica’s acquisition of GrandVision. The European Union’s governing body mentioned this on Tuesday afternoon.

“The proposals submitted by EssilorLuxottica ensure active competition in the optical retail sector at the national level and are in favor of customers in countries such as Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands,” European Commissioner Margaret Westager said in a comment.

Brussels agrees that in Belgium, the 35 GrandOptical stores are sold without a brand name, in Italy the combined company will liquidate a total of 174 stores and in the Netherlands 142 EyeWish stores are sold under the brand name.

When these conditions and a number of other conditions are met, there are no longer any competition concerns, according to the authority.

“This is an important milestone in the transaction approval process and we are pleased that the regulators understand the benefits of the deal to our shareholders,” said Stephan Burchert, CEO of GrandVision, in a comment.

Whether the acquisition will continue with this is uncertain. Since the Corona pandemic, a conflict has arisen over the takeover price that is being fought in court.

EssilorLuxottica has requested additional information from the Dutch company about the measures the chain has taken in light of the Corona outbreak and how the company wants to weather the crisis. Analysts have speculated that EssilorLuxottica may want to impose a lower acquisition amount. Originally, € 28.00 per share was offered to HAL at GrandVision.

GrandVision said in response Tuesday that it continues to support the EssilorLuxottica acquisition. The goal is to complete this before July 31, 2021. After that, EssilorLuxottica will make a mandatory bid for all GrandVision outstanding shares.

The acquisition has already been approved by competition authorities in the United States, Russia, Mexico, Colombia and Brazil. In Chile and Turkey, it is currently being evaluated by local regulators.

GrandVision closed on Tuesday, up 1.5 percent at 26.50 euros.

Update 2: to add GrandVision comment.

ABM Financial News; [email protected]; Revised text: +31 (0) 20 26 28999.