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CHARENTON-LE-PONT, France—EssilorLuxottica (Euronext: EL) said late last week that it has decided to file an appeal against the recent court judgment dismissing its demands for disclosure of operating information from GrandVision (Euronext: GVNV). EssilorLuxottica, which is in the midst of a proposed acquisition of the Dutch optical retailer, said in a statement that it is “concerned about GrandVision’s behavior in continuing to deny access to important information related to their handling of the COVID-19 outbreak.”

The two companies have been involved in a dispute over access to operating information since July, when EssilorLuxottica announced that it had initiated legal proceedings in The Netherlands to obtain information from GrandVision, as VMAIL reported. EssilorLuxottica said it was seeking information on how GrandVision (which owns the For Eyes optical retail business in the U.S.) managed to operate its businesses during the coronavirus crisis in the spring.

On Aug. 24, however, a court in The Netherlands ruled in favor of GrandVision and denied EssilorLuxottica the right to obtain the additional details it was seeking.

A GrandVision spokeswoman told VMAIL on Friday that it has taken note of EssilorLuxottica’s appeal against the District Court’s ruling. “We have full confidence that the Court of Appeal too will rule in GrandVision’s favor,” the spokeswoman added.

The two companies 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.

The EssilorLuxottica statement on Friday also noted that the company believes the "legal proceedings, including the appeal, do not affect the review of the proposed transaction by the competition authorities in the remaining jurisdictions."