Luxottica founder Leonardo Del Vecchio, the merged group’s largest shareholder, has engaged in a public tit-for-tat with Hubert Sagnières, its executive vice chairman.

The market reacted negatively to indications that the integration of Essilor and Luxottica will take longer than expected.

The newly formed eyewear behemoth posted a 1.2 percent pro forma sales decline in the 12-month period.

Effective on March 5, the delisting follows the birth of EssilorLuxottica on Oct. 1 last year.

The Italian eyewear industry, which reported sales of 3.86 billion euros in 2018, is on a slow-paced but constant growth trajectory.

The company is looking to expand its footprint in Europe and Latin America.

Chairman Leonardo Del Vecchio pledged “full contribution” to EssilorLuxottica, emphasizing Luxottica’s achievements and performance in the 2013-2018 period.

Andrea Guerra spoke to WWD about Eataly’s values, investments in biodiversity — including saving bees — and strategies.

A second tender period will open on Dec. 19 to complete the sellout procedure.

The designer is a longtime shareholder in Luxottica, which is his fashion group’s eyewear licensee.

The Italian eyewear group, owner of brands such as Ray-Ban and Persol, and a licensee for the likes of Giorgio Armani, Burberry, Prada and Versace, confirmed its outlook for 2018 with sales growth of 2 percent.

The newly formed EssilorLuxottica will launch a mandatory exchange offer for all the remaining shares between Oct. 29 and Nov. 27, with the view of delisting Luxottica’s shares in Milan, but the squeeze-out, if any, could be expected between Jan. 28 and March 4.  

The company has been included in the FTSE4Good Index Series for its social and environmental responsible activities.

The merging transaction between the two companies is expected to be finalized in the third quarter of the year.

The Italian eyewear-maker confirmed outlook for the year.