MILAN, Italy and CHARENTON-LE-PONT, France, February 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Luxottica Group (MTA: LUX; NYSE: LUX), a leader in the design, manufacturing and distribution of premium fashion, luxury and sports eyewear, and Essilor International (NYSE Euronext: EI), the world leader in ophthalmic lenses, announced today that the two companies have formed a long-term joint-venture for the Australian and New-Zealand markets. Under the terms of the agreement, the joint-venture will manage Eyebiz Pty Limited, Luxottica's Sydney-based optical lens finishing laboratory, which, as a result of this alliance, will be majority-controlled by Essilor. Eyebiz will continue to supply all of Luxottica's retail optical outlets in Australia and New Zealand: OPSM, Budget Eyewear and Laubman & Pank. The Eyebiz management team will remain in place and report to the new Board comprised of Essilor International and Luxottica representatives. About Luxottica Group Luxottica Group is a leader in premium fashion, luxury and sports eyewear, with over 6,200 optical and sun retail stores in North America, Asia-Pacific, China, South Africa and Europe and a strong and well balanced brand portfolio. Luxottica's key house brands include Ray-Ban, the best known sun eyewear brand in the world, Oakley, Vogue, Persol, Oliver Peoples, Arnette and REVO, while license brands include Bvlgari, Burberry, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Donna Karan, Polo Ralph Lauren, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, Tiffany and Versace. In addition to a global wholesale network covering 130 countries, the Group manages leading retail brands such as LensCrafters and Pearle Vision in North America, OPSM and Laubman & Pank in Australasia, LensCrafters in Greater China and Sunglass Hut globally. The Group's products are designed and manufactured in six Italy-based manufacturing plants, two wholly-owned plants in China and a sports sunglass production facility in the U.S. In 2009, Luxottica Group posted consolidated net sales of EUR5.1 billion. Additional information on the Group is available at http://www.luxottica.com/. About Essilor Essilor International is the world leader in ophthalmic optical products, offering a wide range of lenses under the flagship Varilux(r), Crizal(r), Essilor(r), Definity(r) and Xperio(TM) brands to correct myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism and presbyopia. Essilor operates worldwide through a broad network of mass-production facilities, lens finishing laboratories and local distribution subsidiaries. The Essilor share trades on the Euronext Paris market and is included in the CAC 40 index. Codes and symbols: ISIN: FR 0000121667; Reuters: ESSI.PA; Bloomberg: EI:FP. Luxottica media and investor relations contacts: Ivan Dompe Group Corporate Communications Director Tel: +39(02)8633-4726 Email: Luca Biondolillo SVP, International Corporate Communications Tel: +1-516-918-3100 Mobile: +1-917-518-4203 Email: http://www.luxottica.com/ Alessandra Senici Group Investor Relations Director Tel: +39(02)8633-4718 Email: Essilor investor relations and financial communications: Veronique Gillet, SVP, Investor Relations Sebastien Leroy Manager, Financial communications Tel: +33-1-49-77-42-16 Email: http://www.essilor.com/ DATASOURCE: Essilor CONTACT: Luxottica media and investor relations contacts: Ivan Dompe, Group Corporate Communications Director, Tel: +39(02)8633-4726, Email: ; Luca Biondolillo, SVP, International Corporate Communications, Tel: +1-516-918-3100, Mobile: +1-917-518-4203, Email: ; Alessandra Senici, Group Investor Relations Director, Tel: +39(02)8633-4718, Email: ; Essilor investor relations and financial communications: Veronique Gillet, SVP, Investor Relations; Sebastien Leroy, Manager, Financial communications, Tel: +33-1-49-77-42-16, Email:

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