Paris Court Moves to Break Deadlock at EssilorLuxottica

PARIS – The commercial court of Paris on Friday designated an ad hoc agent to try and break the deadlock at EssilorLuxottica, the world’s largest eyewear company. The appointee is Frank Gentin, the commercial court’s former president, according to Agence France-Presse. An EssilorLuxottica spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment. Top management from the French and Italian factions of recently merged EssilorLuxottica have been clashing, and the company’s board of 16 directors is split into two factions equally divided between the former Essilor and Luxottica camps. As previously reported, EssilorLuxottica’s board met Wednesday and voted down a proposed complementary resolution submitted by shareholders, including Valoptec and some institutional investors, for the addition of one or two independent board members ahead of the eyewear giant’s general meeting on May 16. “The board of directors recommended at the majority that the shareholders vote against the proposed resolution which, if approved, would result in a clear breach of the combination agreement and in a potential disruption for the activities of the board,” the company said in a statement Wednesday. Leonardo Del Vecchio, Luxottica’s founder, through his family holding Delfin in late March deposited a request for arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce “to ascertain violations” to the

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