CHARENTON-LE-PONT, France,
March 31, 2010 /PRNewswire/ --
Essilor International announced today that it has signed an
agreement with the Cinven Investment Fund and Mrs. Ginette Dalloz concerning Essilor's 15.05% stake
(23.21% voting rights) in Sperian Protection. According to the
terms of the deal and subject to certain conditions, Cinven will
launch a cash tender offer for Sperian Protection through a holding
company (Menelas France) under its control.
Essilor has agreed to tender all of its shares in Sperian
Protection to Menelas France, based on the offered price per share,
provided that, at the end of the offer period, Menelas France holds
57% of Sperian Protection's capital, including shares tendered by
Essilor and Mrs. Ginette Dalloz
(directly and indirectly).
By providing the resources needed to pursue growth opportunities
when they arise, Essilor believes this transaction is fully aligned
with Sperian Protection's overall development strategy.
The world leader in ophthalmic optical products, Essilor
International researches, develops, manufactures and markets around
the world a wide range of lenses to correct myopia, hyperopia,
presbyopia and astigmatism. Its flagship brands are Varilux(R),
Crizal(R), Essilor(R), Definity(R) and Xperio(TM).
Based in France, the company
reported consolidated revenue of more than EUR3.2 billion in 2009, with 34,700 employees and
operations in 100 countries.
For more information, please visit http://www.essilor.com.
The Essilor share trades on the NYSE Euronext Paris market and
is included in the CAC 40 index.
Codes and symbols: ISIN: FR FR0000121667; Reuters: ESSI.PA;
Bloomberg: EI:FP.
Investor Relations and Financial Communications
Veronique Gillet - Sebastien Leroy
Phone: +33-(0)1-49-77-42-16
http://www.essilor.com