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SCHIPHOL, The Netherlands—GrandVision NV (Euronext: GVNV), in what it called “a response to market rumors,” said Thursday that it was “confirming that EssilorLuxottica SA (Euronext: EL) has taken measures to secure certain information stored on servers of GrandVision.” The actions are in “connection with the summary proceedings previously initiated by EssilorLuxottica regarding GrandVision's actions to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on its business,” the announcement noted. EssilorLuxottica, which in late July 2019, reached a preliminary deal to acquire GrandVision, and the Dutch optical retailer are involved in a dispute over access to certain operating information, which has delayed the closing of the proposed deal, as VMAIL reported.

GrandVision said it has complied with the process to secure information, “which is handled by an independent third party.” A back-up of this information will be held by this independent third party until there is a ruling in the summary proceedings on whether EssilorLuxottica should be granted access to this information, the announcement added.

This information remains the proprietary information of GrandVision and neither EssilorLuxottica nor any other third party will have access to this information, according to the announcement.

In addition, the measures to secure certain information stored on servers of GrandVision do not impact the outcome of the summary proceedings, the company said. “As previously announced, GrandVision strongly disagrees with EssilorLuxottica's claims and has full confidence that these claims will be rejected in court.”