By Manuela Mesco

MILAN-- Luxottica Group SpA's planned $49-billion tie-up with France's Essilor International SA is the latest move in a lifetime of deal making for Leonardo Del Vecchio, Luxottica's 81-year-old founder and majority owner.

Mr. Del Vecchio started in 1961 what would become the world's largest eyewear maker. He set up shop in the small northern town of Agordo, where he was born and raised in an orphanage.

Initially, his company made glasses on contract for bigger eyeglass companies. He later launched his own brands and then embarked on a number of big acquisitions and licensing pacts through the 1980s and 1990s. He bought retail chains in Italy and struck licensing pacts with some of Europe's biggest luxury fashion brands, including Giorgio Armani, Chanel and Prada.

He also pushed hard into the U.S., snapping up retail giants Lenscrafters and Sunglass Hut. Luxottica dual-listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1990, where it trades under the ticker symbol LUX.

In 1999, Mr. Del Vecchio bought Ray-Ban owner Bausch & Lomb. At the time, the American brand that Audrey Hepburn and Tom Cruise made a household name was languishing. Luxottica turned it around again, improving the quality of its frames and restricting sales to higher-end retailers.

In 2007, Luxottica made another big splash, buying Oakley, a California-based maker of sports glasses, after a bitter contractual dispute.

In the early 2000s, Mr. Del Vecchio took a step back from the business, delegating power to a chief executive, Andrea Guerra. But Mr. Del Vecchio grew tired of watching from the sidelines.

In early 2014, he bristled at Mr. Guerra's decision to join with Google on its high-tech Google Glass. Mr. Guerra resigned that year, and Mr. Del Vecchio returned to a more active role, naming co-CEOs to run the business.

He turned heads with his own assessment of the ill-fated Google Glass: "It would be OK in the disco, but I no longer go to the disco," he said. Later the company said that he was making a joke about his age.

Management turmoil and questions about succession followed Mr. Del Vecchio's return. He personally took on direct management of the company's marketing last year. Still, Mr. Del Vecchio's controlling stake kept him firmly in charge.

His 62% ownership of Luxottica will fall to 38% of the combined company. The deal calls for him to share power on the board, but only during the three-year integration of the two companies, according to people familiar with the matter.

Write to Manuela Mesco at manuela.mesco@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 16, 2017 11:26 ET (16:26 GMT)

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