EU expresses concern about Grandvision acquisition

The European Commission has formulated concerns regarding the acquisition of eyewear retailer GrandVision by EssilorLuxottica, fearing the resulting group could become too powerful as the French-Italian group is already an important producer of eyewear.

Several warnings

The Commission has warned that the acquisition deal, worth 7.2 billion euros, could create a group that is too powerful compared to its competitors. The EC will send a list of its objections to the concerned parties in the next few days. Most important is the worry about the group’s market position in Italy after the acquisition.

An official verdict is not expected before 13 August, but Reuters notes that the Commission has made its worries public before that date in order to persuade the parties involved to make some concessions. Dutch eyewear group GrandVision currently has some 7,000 stores in over forty worldwide.