EssilorLuxottica has become a majority shareholder in GrandVision following the completion of its acquisition of a 76.72 per cent ownership interest in GrandVision from HAL Optical Investments – for a price equal to €28.42 per share.
The company is now under an obligation to launch a mandatory public offer for all outstanding shares in GrandVision, in accordance with the applicable Dutch public offer rules. EssilorLuxottica’s objective is to delist GrandVision from Euronext Amsterdam.
Stephan Borchert, CEO of GrandVision, commented “With the transaction between HAL and EssilorLuxottica completed, we are excited to lead GrandVision into a new chapter and to welcome EssilorLuxottica as our new majority shareholder.
“The combination of GrandVision and EssilorLuxottica creates a truly global eyecare and eyewear company that is ideally positioned to serve the widest range of consumer needs across the world and to provide our customers with a best-in-class omnichannel experience.
“While the closing of the transaction has taken significant effort from all parties involved, we are delighted to see it coming through. Given the compelling strategic rationale of this transaction, GrandVision is convinced and excited about the future prospects of the combination of both our businesses,” added Borchert.
GrandVision operates retail banners in more than 40 different countries across Europe, North and Latin America and Asia. These include Apollo-Optik in Germany, Générale d’Optique and GrandOptical in France, Pearle in the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria, Eye Wish Opticiens in the Netherlands, and Vision Express in the UK, Ireland, Poland, Hungary, the Middle East and India.
GrandVision is committed to further expand the global presence “with the aim to make high quality and affordable eyecare available to more and more people around the world”.