by
Bloomberg
Published
July 26, 2024
Essilor Luxottica SA has confirmed that Meta Platforms SA is interested in buying a stake in the world’s largest eyeglasses maker.
Bloomberg
Chief Executive Francesco Mirelli said the U.S. tech giant intends to become a shareholder in the Franco-Italian group, which could potentially form a long-term partnership to develop smart glasses.
“I’m proud that a company that knows us well after years of working with us has the confidence that we will grow and get better in the future,” he said on a conference call with analysts on Thursday.
Speculation emerged earlier this month that Facebook’s owner was considering taking up to a 5% stake in Essilor-Luxottica SA. Mirari said the maker of Ray-Ban and Oakley sunglasses was not planning a capital raise specifically for Meta and that if it wanted to become a shareholder it would buy shares on the market.
He did not elaborate on the size of the stake Mehta might buy or the timing of the purchase.
The world’s largest manufacturer and retailer of glasses said it made adjusted net profit of 1.75 billion euros ($1.9 billion) for the first half, up 10.6 percent at constant exchange rates from a year earlier and beating the market consensus. Revenue was roughly in line with analysts’ expectations of 13.3 billion euros.
The company said in a statement on Thursday that sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa rose 7.9 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, offsetting slower growth in North America, which was hampered by a decline in same-store sales at Sunglass Hut.
EssilorLuxottica and Meta have been working together on smart glasses for several years. In 2021, Meta launched the first Ray-Ban smart glasses set in a Wayfarer frame, allowing users to take photos and videos, listen to music and answer calls. The new glasses include MetaAI, an artificial intelligence assistant based on the Llama AI model.
“We spend a lot of time together,” Mirelli said. “We have strong relationships with Mark Zuckerberg and the Meta leadership team.”