France ยท Competition
The 351-store remedy in EssilorLuxottica's GrandVision deal
The European Commission required retail divestments in Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium before clearing EssilorLuxottica's purchase of GrandVision in March 2021. The three packages covered 351 optical stores.
Sources checked
The Commission required separate transfers in the three markets where it found concerns.
The concern ran from frame supply to retail competition
The Commission said the combination could make it harder for competing opticians in all three countries to obtain frames from the merged group on comparable terms. It also found that the Italian deal would bring together the two largest chain retailers in that market. Source 1
The packages transferred different brand rights
The Dutch package included the EyeWish name, while Belgium's package provided a licence to support rebranding. The Italian package included the VistaSi chain and brand plus selected GrandVision stores. Transitional supply and support arrangements accompanied the transfers. Source 1
The Italian total remained fixed while the mix changed
The Commission's March release described 174 Italian stores including 72 GrandVision outlets. In its 2021 results, EssilorLuxottica reported an agreement for 99 VistaSi outlets and 75 GrandVision stores, also 174. The chart uses the original clearance totals. Source 1 Source 2
Buying GrandVision and selling stores were separate steps
EssilorLuxottica reported completing its purchase of HAL's 76.72% interest in GrandVision on 1 July 2021. In December it announced agreements with Vision Group for Italy and ORIG/MPG for the Netherlands and Belgium to implement the retail remedies. Source 2