Luxottica to set up Indian arm

NEW DELHI: Indians may soon be spotted wearing luxury eyewear brands like Versace, Prada and Chanel, as Luxottica Group, the world's biggest maker of sunglasses, plans to set up a subsidiary to sell some of these products.


The Milan-headquartered, which already operates in India through its existing wholly-owned arm Ray Ban Indian Holdings Inc for selling Ray-Ban sunglasses, has decided to set up another subsidiary for wholesale marketing of other brands.

Ray Ban Indian Holdings has 44.15 per cent stake in Ray Ban Sun Optics India (RSIL), which sells Ray-Ban sunglasses. Luxottica's plan to set up a subsidiary has been approved by RSIL shareholders in their recent annual general meeting.

The shareholders agreed to grant a no-objection certificate (NOC) to Luxottica Group Spa, an RSIL spokesperson told PTI. The shareholders' decision assumes importance as Luxottica needed the NOC under Press Note 1 of 2005, for setting up wholly-owned subsidiary or subsidiaries in India.

The Italian major, which posted net sales of Euro 4.7 billion in 2006, had also offered a five-year exclusive license to RSIL for manufacturing and distribution of Ray-Ban sunglasses and frames in return for allowing Luxottica to set up its own wholesale business in non-RayBan brands.

"Subject to setting up a separate subsidiary to manage the wholesale business for fashion luxury brands (other than Ray-Ban), Luxottica proposed to enter into an exclusive license agreement with our company for manufacturing and distribution of Ray-Ban branded eyewear in India," the spokesperson said.