CHARENTON-Le-PONT, France—In line with the agreement reached between Delfin and Essilor prior to the closing of the business combination between Essilor and Luxottica in October 2018, EssilorLuxottica (ESLX.PA) said yesterday that its nomination and compensation committee has retained – after consultation with the executive chairman (Leonardo Del Vecchio) and the executive vice-chairman (Hubert Sagnieres) – two recruitment agencies to assist in finding candidates to serve as CEO and to be appointed by the end of 2020. The mandate has been given to Russell Reynolds Associates and Eric Salmon & Partners and includes evaluations of both internal and external candidates. Russell Reynolds Associates will coordinate the process.

Disagreements over the management and governance issues emerged in recent months, as VMAIL reported in March. 

The April 16 announcement stated that the future CEO will be agreed and proposed to the board of directors for joint appointment by both the executive chairman and the executive vice-chairman and recommended by the nomination and compensation committee. The announcement noted that the selected candidate will initially be appointed as “Directeur Général Délégué” and shall be in charge of coordinating the activities of EssilorLuxottica as a pure holding and in assisting the executive chairman and the executive vice-chairman in their efforts to facilitate the integration of Essilor and Luxottica. Its powers shall be defined by the board based on the joint recommendation of executive chairman and the executive vice-chairman.

The announcement further stated, "In the meantime, both the operating companies, Luxottica and Essilor,shall remain separate legal entities fully empowered to run their own business autonomously and under their own leaderships and CEOs with certain exceptions."

In 2018, EssilorLuxottica had nearly 150,000 employees and pro forma consolidated revenues of approximately Euro 16 billion.