Activist investor Daniel Loeb, through his hedge fund Third Point LLC, is planning to push for governance changes in optical wear producer EssilorLuxottica Société anonyme, Bloomberg News reported Sept. 13, citing sources familiar with the matter.
According to the report, Loeb has met with EssilorLuxottica Chairman Leonardo Del Vecchio in private to disclose his ideas on how the company could iron out the "contentious matters." Third Point also wants Essilor and Luxottica to begin realizing the €600 million in synergies that they said were possible when the merger was announced, the report said.
The eyewear giant has been facing governance issues since French lens producer Essilor International Inc. agreed to merge with Italian rival Luxottica Group SpA in 2017.
Tensions between the two companies began in March when Essilor opposed Del Vecchio's proposed appointment of his deputy Francesco Milleri as CEO of the merged entity. Del Vecchio, in turn, accused Essilor Chairman Hubert Sagnieres of trying to take undue control of the combined company.
In May, both sides agreed to resolve the internal conflict and appointed Milleri and Laurent Vacherot, CEO of Essilor, to develop and implement the EssilorLuxottica strategy and integration process over the next 12 to 24 months. EssilorLuxottica is set to name its first CEO in 2020.
Del Vecchio is the founder and former chairman of Luxottica and is now EssilorLuxottica's largest shareholder with a 31.7% stake, through his holding firm Delfin S.a.r.l. Loeb owns about 1.2% of the company, but he reportedly plans to boost his stake further.
EssilorLuxottica declined to comment on the matter, while Third Point did not immediately respond to S&P Global Market Intelligence's requests for comment.
