Luxottica and Essilor Form Joint-Venture for the Australian and New Zealand Markets
February 08 2010 - 2:36AM
PR Newswire (US)
MILAN and CHARENTON-LE-PONT, France, Feb. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/
-- Luxottica Group (MTA: LUX; NYSE: LUX), a leader in the design,
manufacturing and distribution of premium fashion, luxury and
sports eyewear, and Essilor International (NYSE Euronext: EI), the
world leader in ophthalmic lenses, announced today that the two
companies have formed a long-term joint-venture for the Australian
and New Zealand markets. Under the terms of the agreement, the
joint-venture will manage Eyebiz Pty Limited, Luxottica's
Sydney-based optical lens finishing laboratory, which, as a result
of this alliance, will be majority-controlled by Essilor. Eyebiz
will continue to supply all of Luxottica's retail optical outlets
in Australia and New Zealand: OPSM, Budget Eyewear and Laubman
& Pank. The Eyebiz management team will remain in place and
report to the new Board, comprised of Essilor International and
Luxottica representatives. About Luxottica Group Luxottica Group is
a leader in premium fashion, luxury and sports eyewear, with over
6,200 optical and sun retail stores in North America, Asia-Pacific,
China, South Africa and Europe and a strong and well balanced brand
portfolio. Luxottica's key house brands include Ray-Ban, the best
known sun eyewear brand in the world, Oakley, Vogue, Persol, Oliver
Peoples, Arnette and REVO, while license brands include Bvlgari,
Burberry, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Donna Karan, Polo Ralph
Lauren, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, Tiffany and Versace. In
addition to a global wholesale network covering 130 countries, the
Group manages leading retail brands such as LensCrafters and Pearle
Vision in North America, OPSM and Laubman & Pank in
Australasia, LensCrafters in Greater China and Sunglass Hut
globally. The Group's products are designed and manufactured in six
Italy-based manufacturing plants, two wholly-owned plants in China
and a sports sunglass production facility in the U.S. In 2009,
Luxottica Group posted consolidated net sales of euro 5.1 billion.
Additional information on the Group is available at
http://www.luxottica.com/. About Essilor Essilor International is
the world leader in ophthalmic optical products, offering a wide
range of lenses under the flagship Varilux®, Crizal®, Essilor®,
Definity® and Xperio(TM) brands to correct myopia, hyperopia,
astigmatism and presbyopia. Essilor operates worldwide through a
broad network of mass-production facilities, lens finishing
laboratories and local distribution subsidiaries. The Essilor share
trades on the Euronext Paris market and is included in the CAC 40
index. Codes and symbols: ISIN: FR 0000121667; Reuters: ESSI.PA;
Bloomberg: EI:FP. Safe Harbor Statement Certain statements in this
press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" as
defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Such statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those which
are anticipated. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not
limited to, the ability to manage the effect of the poor current
global economic conditions on our business, the ability to
successfully acquire new businesses and integrate their operations,
the ability to predict future economic conditions and changes in
consumer preferences, the ability to successfully introduce and
market new products, the ability to maintain an efficient
distribution network, the ability to achieve and manage growth, the
ability to negotiate and maintain favorable license arrangements,
the availability of correction alternatives to prescription
eyeglasses, fluctuations in exchange rates, as well as other
political, economic and technological factors and other risks and
uncertainties described in our filings with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements are made as
of the date hereof, and we do not assume any obligation to update
them. DATASOURCE: Luxottica Group S.p.A. CONTACT: Luxottica media
and investor relations: Ivan Dompe, Group Corporate Communications
Director, +39 (02) 8633-4726, , or Luca Biondolillo, SVP,
International Corporate Communications, +1-516-918-3100, or Mobile:
+1-917-518-4203, , or Alessandra Senici, Group Investor Relations
Director, +39 (02) 8633-4038, ; or Essilor investor relations and
financial communications: Veronique Gillet, SVP, Investor
Relations, Sebastien Leroy, Manager, Financial communications, +33
(0) 1-49-77-42-16, Web Site: http://www.luxottica.com/
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