EssilorLuxottica : to appeal court verdict over GrandVision

Spectacles maker EssilorLuxottica said it would appeal against a Dutch court's verdict that had rejected its contention that takeover target GrandVision had breached a deal agreement.

Last month, the Rotterdam district court said EssilorLuxottica had failed to prove its claim that Dutch peer GrandVision had breached the agreement by not seeking permission for actions it took as lockdowns to combat COVID-19 extended throughout Europe.

"EssilorLuxottica confirms that it has decided to file an appeal against the judgment dismissing the company's demands for disclosure of information from GrandVision," it said on Friday.

"EssilorLuxottica is concerned about GrandVision's behavior in continuing to deny access to important information related to their handling of the COVID-19 outbreak. Legal proceedings, including the appeal, do not affect the review of the proposed transaction by the competition authorities in the remaining jurisdictions," added the company in a statement.

EssilorLuxottica, whose brands include Ray-Ban and Oakley, had argued to the court that GrandVision's decisions to suspend payments to store owners and suppliers and to apply for state aid could give grounds for ending its proposed 7.2 billion euros (6.40 billion pounds) takeover of the Dutch company.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)