Essilor sees US$54 billion merger with Ray-ban maker Luxottica sealed in the first quarter

Essilor International SA, the world’s largest maker of optical lenses, sees the completion of its US$54 billion merger deal with Italian peer Luxottica in the first quarter of next year as European Union antitrust investigators restart their review, according to the CEO of Essilor, Hubert Sagnières.

The French company agreed in January to join forces with Luxottica, the world’s largest eyewear company and the maker of Ray-ban sunglasses, to create a global eyewear giant with annual revenue of more than 15 billion euros (US$17.4 billion).

But last week EU antitrust regulators said they had suspended their review as the two firms failed to provide requested data.

“We plan to get approval between year end and the first quarter, between December, January or February, around those dates,” Sagnières said on Monday during a visit to Hong Kong.

“Last week, the European antitrust commission suspended the investigation for a few days because of some ‘missing’ documents,” he said. “They got the documents last Friday so we hope today (Monday) they would reopen the case.”

The proposed merger has sparked concerns over a possible monopoly in the optical sector in Europe, as the two companies each have a dominant market position in the segments in which they operate: for Essilor in optical lens manufacturing and for Luxottica in the sale of sunglasses and frames, including other big brands such as Oakley and Persol.