EU regulators suspend investigation into merger

The proposed merger has attracted scrutiny in Europe due to concerns it could result in a lack of market competition and higher price increases but, it has been passed by various other antitrust authorities around the world.A statent issued by the EU competition authority announcing the decision stated: “This procedure in merger investigations is activated if the parties fail to provide, in a timely fashion, an important piece of information that the Commission has requested from th.{{quote-A:R-W:450-Q: Once the missing information is supplied by the parties, the clock is re-started and the deadline for the Commission’s decision is then adjusted accordingly. }}“Once the missing information is supplied by the parties, the clock is re-started and the deadline for the Commission’s decision is then adjusted accordingly.”The antitrust announcent followed disappointing Q3 results for Luxottica, with the Italian company revealing severe weather in North America had forced hundreds of tporary business closures, resulting in substantial retail and wholesale losses.Net Q3 sales, impacted by the loss of more than 4,000 retail days, came in at euro 2.22 billion (AU$3.37 b). Nevertheless, Luxottica still managed to achieve earnings of 0.8% at constant exchange rates, driven by growth in Europe and Latin America, along with improvent in the Asia-Pacific region and OPSM’s excellent performance in Australia.In addition to the North American losses, Luxottica also announced it would be permanently laying off 208 ployees from its Hickory Hill facility in Mphis on Decber 31.The severe weather did not have the same negative impact on Luxottica’s merger partner, with Essilor reporting consolidated revenue of euro 5.6 billion (AU$8.49 b) for the first nine months of 2017, a 6.6% increase at constant currency rates, despite the natural disasters.