Essilor / Luixottica Deal cleared in the USA .......................

[Chris Ryser]

Proposed combination between Essilor and Luxottica Receives clearance from US Federal Trade Commission without conditions




PDF Version of the news release
Charenton-le-Pont, France and Milan, Italy (March 1, 2018) - Essilor (Euronext Paris: EI) and Luxottica (MTA: LUX) today announce that the proposed combination between the two companies has been cleared by the US Federal Trade Commission without conditions. The United States is one of the jurisdictions where antitrust approvals are a condition precedent to the closing of the transaction.
To date, the transaction has also been unconditionally approved in the European Union, and in 13 other countries: Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, India, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, South Korea and Taiwan.
The finalization of the proposed Essilor and Luxottica combination is planned for the first part of 2018 after obtaining all necessary authorizations.
Contacts

Essilor Investor Relations Véronique Gillet Tel.: +33 (0)1 49 77 42 16 Corporate Communications and Media Relations Maïlis Thiercelin Tel.: +33 (0)1 49 77 45 02

Luxottica Group Investor Relations and Corporate Communications Alessandra Senici Tel.: +39 (02) 8633 4870 Corporate Communications and Media Relations Marco Catalani Tel.: +39 (02) 8633 4470

[Chris Ryser]

FTC closes case involving Essilor's acquisition of Luxottica

by Mark Iandolo |
Mar. 5, 2018, 12:24pm


WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) — The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced March 1 that has it issued a statement after it voted to close its case related to Luxottica Group’s proposed merger with Essilor.

The FTC determined that there was no evidence to support the notion that Essilor’s acquisition of Luxottica would violate federal antitrust laws.
“FTC staff extensively investigated every plausible theory and used aggressive assumptions to assess the likelihood of competitive harm,” the FTC noted in its statement. “The investigation exhaustively examined information provided by a wide and deep swath of market participants, as well as the parties’ own documents and data. Assessing the likely competitive effects of a proposed transaction is a fact-specific exercise that takes into account the current market dynamics, which may be different in the future. Here, however, the evidence did not support a conclusion that Essilor’s proposed acquisition of Luxottica may be substantially to lessen competition in violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act.”

The FTC voted 2-0 to close the case and issue the closing statement.

source:
https://legalnewsline.com/stories/51...n-of-luxottica

[Chris Ryser]

Published in Optometry Today:


Essilor told OT that it is cooperating with the authorities where anti-trust clearance is required.

China is the only remaining jurisdiction where conditions must be met before the deal can be closed. Brazil’s approval is expected to become effective in the coming days if no appeal is made.

Once approval has been received, Essilor will be renamed EssilorLuxottica and become a holding company of the combined group.