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SEBI checking Luxottica's 1999 deal

Italian eyeware giant Luxottica Group SpA's indirect acquisition of a stake in RayBan Sun Optics India in 1999 is being checked for a possible breach of the takeover code, the market regulator said on Wednesday.

"No final decision has been taken," a senior Securities and Exchange Board of India official told Reuters.

RayBan Sun Optics said it had responded to SEBI's queries and had not heard anything further.

The Economic Times reported that SEBI may take action against Luxottica for failing to make an open offer to buy a further 20 per cent from public shareholders after it gained a 44 per cent stake in RayBan through its 1999 takeover of Bausch & Lomb of the United States.

"Since the matter is being pursued by SEBI we would not like to comment on it at present," Harsh Chopra, managing director, RayBan Sun Optics told Reuters.

Indian takeover laws mandate a company to make the open offer when it acquires 15 per cent in another, directly or indirectly.

Chopra said RayBan's board was reconstituted in October 2000 and currently has six Luxottica directors out of a total of eight.

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