PARIS — European eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica said on Monday that its co-chief financial officer Hilary Halper is stepping down and that it will announce her replacement shortly.
The company did not provide further details about the abrupt management change.
Formed in 2018 by the combination of France-based Essilor, a lensmaker that operates LensCrafters and Target Optical, and Italy’s Luxottica, which produces eyewear under license for brands including Bulgari, Burberry, Chanel and Giorgio Armani, the 46-billion-euro merger has been fraught with challenges, including disputes between top managers of the French and Italian factions of the company in early stages of integration.
Adding to integration challenges, in December it uncovered fraudulent financial activities in one of its plants in Thailand, estimating the impact at up to 190 million euros on its full-year operating result.
Earlier this month, the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation into EssilorLuxottica’s proposed acquisition of Dutch optical retailer GrandVision, citing concerns that the merger would lead to higher prices and reduced choices for consumers.
Noting that EssilorLuxottica is the world’s largest supplier of eyewear and GrandVision is Europe’s largest optical retail chain, the commission said combining the two companies could reduce competition for the wholesale supply of ophthalmic lenses and eyewear, as well as for the retail supply of optical products.