PARIS, April 28 (Reuters) – Franco-Italian eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica has in the past looked at investing in Italian hearing aid maker Amplifon, CEO Francesco Milleri said on Tuesday, adding that audio will be among the group’s biggest growth areas.
“We monitor almost everything that happens within our world, so we also looked at Amplifon,” Milleri said when asked if EssilorLuxottica had considered taking part in a past capital hike by the hearing aid maker.
He did not specify which capital increase he was referring to or the size of the stake that was considered.
“Then they (Amplifon) made different choices”, the CEO said on the sidelines of EssilorLuxottica’s annual shareholders meeting. The group continues to monitor potential M&A transactions around the world, he said.
Earlier this year Amplifon agreed to buy the hearing business of Denmark’s GN Store Nord for 2.3 billion euros ($2.69 billion), in a deal that created a group spanning both manufacturing and retail distribution.
EssilorLuxottica is already present in the audio sector with its Nuance Audio glasses, a type of eyewear incorporating hearing assistance for people with mild to moderate hearing loss.
Growth in the audio segment will come “through new products that will enhance Nuance’s performance, while also expanding our portfolio with innovative products offering different characteristics,” Milleri said.
($1 = 0.8555 euros)
(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin, writing by Alvise Armellini, editing by Gianluca Semeraro and Gavin Jones)
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