Open Markets Calls on U.S. Enforcers to Block Eyewear Monopolist’s Nearly $8 Billion Acquisition of GrandVision
Washington, D.C. — Open Markets Institute calls on U.S. anti-monopoly enforcers to block EssilorLuxottica’s nearly $8 billion acquisition of GrandVision. The deal would mean even higher prices for glasses - which are already far too expensive - and would further limit real choice over where Americans can get their eyewear.
EssilorLuxottica already controls LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, Sunglass Hut, and Target Optical, among many other retailers in the United States. The corporation also dominates the manufacture of frames and lenses and is fast expanding into optometry and insurance.
“EssilorLuxottica was a huge problem for Americans even before this deal,” said Open Markets Executive Director Barry Lynn. “There is, indeed, perhaps no better proof that antitrust enforcers have been asleep in their chairs than the power this one European corporation has been able to consolidate right here in America.”
EssilorLuxottica is the dominant player in eyewear retail and manufacturing, operating more than 9,000 stores in the United States. The acquisition would give EssilorLuxottica access to about 5,300 of GrandVision’s stores across Europe, and its 128 stores in the United States through its retail brand For Eyes.
EssilorLuxottica’s executive Vice-Chairman Hubert Sagnières yesterday showed clear disdain for the alertness and authority of U.S. enforcers, saying the acquisition was aimed in part at “eliminat[ing] the competitive threat of GrandVision becoming a force in the US.”
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