Leonardo Maria del Vecchio is nearing a deal to buy out two of his siblings from the family holding company Delfin, which controls EssilorLuxottica, the heir told the Financial Times in an interview published on Friday.
“We are close to agreeing a price,” Leonardo Maria del Vecchio told the FT, adding that he was in talks to triple his holding to 37.5%.
The ownership of Luxembourg-based family holding Delfin is split equally among the eight heirs of Ray-Ban eyewear maker Luxottica’s founder Leonardo Del Vecchio, who died in 2022.
“I have been very clear I am willing to buy their stakes in order to become Delfin’s main shareholder, close the outstanding issues around my father’s estate and execute my father’s will,” Leonardo Maria told the FT.
Disagreements among shareholders have prevented the distribution of a dividend above 10% of net profit or any change to the current governance structure.
Leonardo Maria told the newspaper that the transaction would be structured as a leveraged buyout backed by a pool of unnamed banks, adding that he would focus on safeguarding EssilorLuxottica and was willing to wait for a court decision or strike a deal with his siblings beforehand.
“I don’t intend to make a power move . . . I want to build trust after four years of disputes,” he said.
Aside from being the biggest shareholder in EssilorLuxottica, Delfin holds stakes in Covivio, Banca Monte dei Paschi, Generali and UniCredit.
Delfin and EssilorLuxottica did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Source: Reuters.com