Paris — The European Commission approved a €48bn merger of Luxottica and Essilor without conditions on Thursday, lifting shares in both. The proposed tie-up between the Italian company, which owns trademarks such as Ray-Ban and Oakley, and the French eyewear specialist, which sells lenses brand Varilux, is aimed at helping the businesses take advantage of expected strong demand for prescription spectacles and sunglasses. "We’ve received feedback from nearly 4,000 opticians in a market test in Europe that Essilor and Luxottica would not gain market power to harm competition," EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said. Essilor shares jumped 5%, the announcement coming hours after the world’s largest maker of ophthalmic lenses reported higher sales but weaker profit margins. The EU approval means Essilor and Luxottica are now waiting for the go-ahead from regulators in the US and China. Rivals and opticians have voiced concern that the merged entity might persuade opticians t...
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