Luxottica to acquire control of Multiopticas Internacional

Luxottica Group S.p.A. (MTA: LUX; NYSE: LUX) today announced that it entered into an agreement pursuant to which Luxottica will exercise in advance, in July 2011, its call option on 57% of Multiopticas Internacional S.L. share capital. Luxottica, which already owns a 40% stake in Multiopticas Internacional, is a global leader in the design, manufacturing and distribution of fashion, luxury and sports eyewear and Multiopticas Internacional is a company that currently owns over 470 eyewear stores operating under the Opticas GMO, Econopticas and Sun Planet retail brands in Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.

It was agreed to accelerate exercise of the call option included in the contract signed in 2009, by one year. Once the call option is exercised (which is worth approximately 95 million Euros), Luxottica will own 97% of Multiopticas Internacional’s share capital.

“Latin America represents a formidable driving force for both Luxottica Divisions,” said Andrea Guerra, Chief Executive Officer of Luxottica. “We expect to grow significantly in this key region, continuing on a trend of sustained development. Today’s operation enables us to establish a meaningful position in retail in this region with an established network and a well-defined growth plan; on the other hand, it provides us with an opportunity to strengthen the positioning of our brands and Luxottica’s business overall across the region.”

Multiopticas Internacional is currently present in South America with more than 470 stores, as follows: 221 in Chile, 141 in Peru, 40 in Ecuador and 77 in Colombia. In 2010 they posted total net sales exceeding 80 million Euros. Over the last four years, Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of net sales was more than 11%. It is expected that net sales for 2011 for the Multiopticas Internacional business could reach 95 million Euros.

Under the terms of the agreement, Luxottica will pay 70% of the exercise price, determined on the basis of Multiopticas Internacional’s sales and EBITDA values, at the time of the exercise of the call option; the remaining 30% will be paid by the end of 2011.