£40bn merger for Ray-Ban shades

THE company behind Ray-Ban sunglasses is to merge with French lens maker Essilor in a tie-up worth £40bn.

Italian group Luxottica, which also owns Oakley and Sunglasses Hut, and Essilor are expected to rake in revenues of £13bn as a combined entity.

The newly created group hopes to generate cost savings of up to £527m off the back of the deal. Leonardo Del Vecchio, Luxottica’s billionaire founder, will be the majority shareholder of the group, with his holding company owning between 31pc and 38pc.

He said: ‘With this agreement, my dream to create a major global player in the eye-wear industry, fully integrated and excellent in all its parts, comes finally true.

‘Finally, after 50 years, two products which are naturally complementary, namely frames and lenses, will be designed, manufactured and distributed under the same roof.’

Del Vecchio will also be chief executive and executive chairman of the merged company, which will be listed in Paris.