CHARENTON-LE-PONT, France—Following the approval by its board of directors, EssilorLuxottica (Euronext: EL) today announced its decision to complete the acquisition of HAL’s 76.72 percent interest in GrandVision (Euronext: GVNV) on July 1, 2021 as per the terms and conditions of the agreement entered into on July 30, 2019. “After assessing all our options, we have made the decision to proceed with the completion of the deal without further delay. The strategic rationale of the transaction remains strong and unchanged, and after two years of efforts and relentless work, we are now ready to turn a page and start a new chapter of EssilorLuxottica’s history, with GrandVision," said Francesco Milleri and Paul du Saillant, respectively CEO and Deputy CEO of EssilorLuxottica.

"In doing so, we will use the learnings and experience gathered over the past years to ensure GrandVision and its 37,000 talented employees are integrated successfully. As the industry returns to growth following the pandemic, we believe this is the perfect time to expand our retail network, so that we can engage more effectively with consumers and thus raise the visibility and quality of the entire industry. This will benefit all stakeholders, including our customers to whom we remain fully committed,” the two executives said.

GrandVision issued a brief statement following the release of EssilorLuxottica's today, stating that it had "taken note" of their press release, adding "Further announcements will be made if and when required."

As VMAIL reported on June 22, an arbitration court had ruled in favor of EssilorLuxottica and said that the deal to acquire GrandVision could be called off. EssilorLuxottica executives said at that time that they were reviewing the situation.