MILAN and CHARENTON-LE-PONT, France, Feb. 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 euro 5.1 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®, Crizal®, Essilor®, Definity® 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. Safe Harbor Statement Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those which are anticipated. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the ability to manage the effect of the poor current global economic conditions on our business, the ability to successfully acquire new businesses and integrate their operations, the ability to predict future economic conditions and changes in consumer preferences, the ability to successfully introduce and market new products, the ability to maintain an efficient distribution network, the ability to achieve and manage growth, the ability to negotiate and maintain favorable license arrangements, the availability of correction alternatives to prescription eyeglasses, fluctuations in exchange rates, as well as other political, economic and technological factors and other risks and uncertainties described in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof, and we do not assume any obligation to update them. DATASOURCE: Luxottica Group S.p.A. CONTACT: Luxottica media and investor relations: Ivan Dompe, Group Corporate Communications Director, +39 (02) 8633-4726, , or Luca Biondolillo, SVP, International Corporate Communications, +1-516-918-3100, or Mobile: +1-917-518-4203, , or Alessandra Senici, Group Investor Relations Director, +39 (02) 8633-4038, ; or Essilor investor relations and financial communications: Veronique Gillet, SVP, Investor Relations, Sebastien Leroy, Manager, Financial communications, +33 (0) 1-49-77-42-16, Web Site: http://www.luxottica.com/

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