EssilorLuxottica’s €7.2 billion (US$7.98 billion) bid for Dutch opticians group GrandVision faces a full-scale EU antitrust investigation after it declined to offer concessions to address concerns, reported the New York Times.
EssilorLuxottica, formed last year from the merger of French lens maker Essilor and Italian eyewear group Luxottica, gave up the chance to offer concessions on Thursday, January 30, the deadline for doing so, the European Commission website showed.
Last year’s deal also triggered an investigation and feedback from nearly 4,000 opticians, but was eventually cleared unconditionally.
The new deal will give EssilorLuxottica control of more than 7,000 stores worldwide.
The Commission, which will open the full-scale probe following the end of its preliminary review on February 6, and EssilorLuxottica declined to comment. Its shares dipped on the Reuters story and were down 0.8% in early trade.
Full Content: New York Times
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