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Law360 (February 9, 2021, 5:08 PM EST ) Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica SA has offered European enforcers commitments aimed at addressing competition concerns raised by its proposed €5.46 billion ($6.6 billion) purchase of a majority stake in optical retailer GrandVision NV, restarting a merger review that had been on hold since July.
The European Commission received the proposed fixes on Monday, setting up an April 12 deadline for enforcers to complete their investigation of the deal, according to the agency's case register.
A representative for GrandVision told Law360 on Tuesday that EssilorLuxottica submitted a remedy package to the commission but that the details are confidential and declined to comment further on the merger review process.
The representative did say, however, that GrandVision "continues to support the transaction."
Enforcers stopped the clock on their in-depth investigation of Paris-based EssilorLuxottica's bid to purchase a 76.72% stake in GrandVision in July, shortly after EssilorLuxottica said it had initiated legal proceedings in the Netherlands over the Dutch retailer's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The commission suspended the deadline, citing the need for documents from the parties.
EssilorLuxottica said at the time GrandVision was refusing to provide information about how it has managed its business during the COVID-19 pandemic and the extent to which it had allegedly breached the merger agreement.
GrandVision has denied EssilorLuxottica's claims that the French-Italian company is entitled to information about GrandVision's pandemic mitigation efforts and also initiated arbitration proceedings in July seeking to confirm that it has not breached the merger agreement.
The lower court tossed EssilorLuxottica's claims in August, but the company has appealed, according to an earnings statement last month from GrandVision.
The GrandVision representative declined to provide an update on the confidential arbitration on Tuesday and said EssilorLuxottica's appeal is ongoing. Representatives for EssilorLuxottica did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
The European Commission opened an in-depth probe of the move in February 2020, noting that EssilorLuxottica is the world's largest supplier of eyewear and that GrandVision is the largest optical retail chain in the bloc.
The commission is examining whether EssilorLuxottica could limit competing suppliers' access to GrandVision following the deal and whether retail customers would be faced with higher prices or fewer options for optical products. The deal has already been cleared without conditions by enforcers in the U.S., Colombia, Brazil and Mexico, according to the companies.
EssilorLuxottica was formed in 2018 through the $49 billion merger between Essilor International SA and Luxottica Group SA. That deal also came under antitrust scrutiny, but European and U.S. officials ultimately approved the merger without conditions after a lengthy review.
--Additional reporting by Christopher Cole. Editing by Bruce Goldman.
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