(Reuters) – EssilorLuxottica shares rose on Friday after the group’s chairman and chief executive confirmed that Facebook parent company Meta would eventually take a stake in its capital.
At 10:15 GMT, the share price of the sunglasses manufacturer Ray-Ban rose 7.8% to 208 euros, leading the CAC 40 which rose 0.87% at the same time.
On Thursday, EssilorLuxottica CEO Francesco Milleri said in a conference call with analysts that Meta had informed him of its intention to potentially acquire a stake in the Franco-Italian group.
The executive was being questioned after press reports earlier this month sent EssilorLuxottica’s stock price soaring.
“We are aware of this type of intention,” Francesco Milleri told analysts after the group’s results were released, adding that such interest was welcome.
“We are proud that the company that knows us very well after years of partnership is convinced that our company, our group, can grow,” he added.
“We do not have a capital increase project dedicated to Meta,” said Francesco Milleri, indicating that any purchase of shares would have to be made on the market.
EssilorLuxottica has a market capitalization of around €95 billion, according to LSEG data.
According to Cédric Lecasble, an analyst at Stifel, the EssilorLuxottica share price is reacting both to the confirmation of Meta’s interest and to the clarification on the absence of a capital increase which could have diluted existing shareholders.
(Written by Diana Mandiá, with Olivier Sorgho and Pauline Foret, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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