The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation into a planned merger between GrandVision, Europe's largest eyeglasses retail chain, and EssilorLuxottica, the world's largest eyewear supplier.

The Commission believes the merger, which was announced in December, could reduce competition for the wholesale supply of ophthalmic lenses and eyewear as well as some retail optical products.

"EssilorLuxottica is the world's largest supplier of eyewear and GrandVision is Europe's largest optical retail chain. In this consolidating market, we need to carefully assess whether the proposed merger would lead to higher prices or reduced choices for consumers when they visit their local optician," Margrethe Vestager, the EU's antitrust chief, said in a statement.

EssilorLuxottica, a French-Italian company with headquarters in Paris, is the world's largest supplier of eyeglass lenses and eyewear and owns well-known brands, such as Ray-Ban and Oakley. The company also runs retail outlets, mainly in the U.K. and Italy.

GrandVision, a Dutch company, is an eyewear retailer and owns some of the largest chains in Europe, such as GrandOptical and Pearle. It has over 7,000 stores in over 40 countries worldwide.

EssilorLuxottica sells its products to optical retailers, including GrandVision. Those retailers then sell the glasses to consumers.

A preliminary investigation by the Commission raised concerns about EssilorLuxottica's strong market position in the wholesale supply of optical products and GrandVision's leading presence in the retail distribution of those products.

The Commission said its investigation would focus on whether EssilorLuxottica would use its strong market presence in the lenses and eyewear market to raise prices or impose worsening conditions on retailers that compete with GrandVision. It would also look at whether the merged entity could limit access for competing suppliers of lenses or eyewear, as GrandVision owns the largest optical products distribution network in Europe.

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