EU regulators set new August 13 deadline for EssilorLuxottica’s Dutch deal

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU antitrust regulators have set a new deadline of Aug. 13 for their decision on Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica’s 7.2-billion-euro ($7.8 billion) bid for Dutch opticians group GrandVision , a European Commission filing shows.

EU competition enforcers, which in February voiced concerns about possible price hikes and fewer choices for consumers as a result of the deal, halted their investigation on April 7 while waiting for the companies to provide data.

Companies in recent merger deals have been given more time to reply to information requests because of the coronavirus outbreak.

EssilorLuxottica, which makes eyewear for luxury brands such as Chanel, Prada and Versace , is also a retailer with a vast shop network.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Jason Neely)