BUSINESS: Financial EssilorLuxottica Says European Commission Has Cleared GrandVision Deal With Stipulation for the Divestiture of 350 Stores By Staff Tuesday, March 23, 2021 2:04 PM CHARENTON-LE-PONT, France—EssilorLuxottica (Euronext: EL) said Tuesday the European Commission has cleared its proposed acquisition of GrandVision (Euronext: GVNV)—with the condition of some retail divestitures in Europe—after “a long in-depth review largely impacted by consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.” The clearance is conditioned on the divestment of some optical retail businesses in Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy for an overall number of approximately 350 stores, the announcement noted. The outcome of the proposed transaction still depends on the sign off from the competition authorities in Chile and Turkey, as well as the decisions regarding ongoing litigations, the announcement noted. (Grand Vision operated about 7,250 optical stores worldwide at the end of 2020.) In a separate statement, GrandVision said it was confirming the commission’s clearing of the deal that has HAL Optical Investments BV selling its 76.72 percent ownership interest in GrandVision to EssilorLuxottica. This clearance is effective immediately. Stephan Borchert, chief executive of GrandVision, said, “This is a significant milestone in the approval process for the transaction, and we are pleased that the regulatory authorities recognize the benefits the transaction will bring to our stakeholders.” The European Commission’s decision follows an early February confirmation by GrandVision that EssilorLuxottica had made certain moves to restart the review process of the proposed transaction, as VMAIL reported. The commission responded by setting a new April 12 deadline to rule on the deal. The deal has been unconditionally cleared in the U.S., where GrandVision operates the For Eyes optical retail business, according to an earlier GrandVision announcement. The two companies had initially agreed to a deal in July 2019 in which EssilorLuxottica would acquire GrandVision from its parent company—HAL Holding NV—in a deal valued at about €7.1billion. With respect to the required store divestures, the breakdown is as follows: • In Belgium, the GrandOptical chain and its 35 stores will be sold but without the brand name. The purchaser will have a license while rebranding these stores to its own choice of name. • In Italy, the merged entity will divest a total of 174 stores, which includes the whole of EssilorLuxottica's VistaSì chain together with 72 stores from the “GrandVision by” chain. The VistaSì brand will be transferred and the “GrandVision by” stores will either be rebranded to VistaSì or to the purchaser's own brand. • In the Netherlands, 142 stores from the EyeWish chain will be sold, together with the brand name. The merged entity will keep some stores from this chain and will have to rebrand them under a new name. According to GrandVision’s announcement, the transaction also has been cleared in Russia, Mexico, Colombia and Brazil. GrandVision said it continues to support EssilorLuxottica with the shared objective to close the transaction before July 31. After the transaction has been closed, EssilorLuxottica will launch a mandatory cash public offer for all outstanding shares in the company, in accordance with the applicable Dutch public offer rules.