The takeover of Pearle‘s parent company Grandvision by EssilorLuxottica seems further away than ever. The Court of Justice in Amsterdam has ruled that the acquirer is not allowed to inspect the accounts of GrandVision, something the Ray-Ban manufacturer has been demanding for almost a year.
No information needed
EssilorLuxottica returns empty-handed after the long-lasting conflict with GrandVision. The engaged couple has been arguing for almost a year now about how to handle the Covid crisis: according to the French-Italian buyer, GrandVision mismanaged the outbreak of the pandemic, causing the optics group’s sales and profits to plummet.
EssilorLuxottica demanded to inspect the accounts of its prospective purchase, but GrandVision refused to provide the additional information. In Amsterdam, the court ruled the demand was unnecessary, according to the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. The reason for this may be that some documents have already been handed over in arbitration.
Pearle is not giving in
The battle between GrandVision and EssilorLuxottica is a bitter one: earlier on, raids and confiscations have been taking place as well. Whether the takeover will happen now is highly uncertain. Although EssilorLuxottica might mainly want to lower the takeover price.
Despite all the harassment, GrandVision is stubbornly holding on to the acquisition. It is only natural because if EssilorLuxottica were to walk away from the 7 billion euros deal, the eyewear manufacturer would still have to pay damages of 400 million euros.
