Cleary Gottlieb acts as global antitrust counsel to Essilor in its combination with Luxottica. This transaction, the first of its size in this sector and the largest M&A transaction in France in 2017, will give rise to a combined entity with a market capitalization of around €46 billion.
In January 2017, Essilor and Delfin, the majority shareholder of Luxottica, agreed to combine the activities of Essilor and Luxottica, which are respectively the largest supplier of ophthalmic lenses and the largest supplier of eyewear, in Europe and worldwide. The combined entity, EssilorLuxottica, would be the first global integrated player operating across all optical segments, with revenues exceeding €15 billion.
The transaction requires merger control clearance in 19 jurisdictions, including the EU, the U.S., China, and Brazil. On March 1, 2018, after in-depth investigations, the European Commission unconditionally approved and the U.S. FTC unanimously voted to close its investigation into the transaction. The deal has already been cleared in 12 other jurisdictions.