Essilor Supports the Planned Friendly Bid for Sperian Protection

CHARENTON-LE-PONT, France, March 31, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Essilor International announced today that it has signed an agreement with the Cinven Investment Fund and Mrs. Ginette Dalloz concerning Essilor's 15.05% stake (23.21% voting rights) in Sperian Protection. According to the terms of the deal and subject to certain conditions, Cinven will launch a cash tender offer for Sperian Protection through a holding company (Menelas France) under its control.

Essilor has agreed to tender all of its shares in Sperian Protection to Menelas France, based on the offered price per share, provided that, at the end of the offer period, Menelas France holds 57% of Sperian Protection's capital, including shares tendered by Essilor and Mrs. Ginette Dalloz (directly and indirectly).

By providing the resources needed to pursue growth opportunities when they arise, Essilor believes this transaction is fully aligned with Sperian Protection's overall development strategy.

The world leader in ophthalmic optical products, Essilor International researches, develops, manufactures and markets around the world a wide range of lenses to correct myopia, hyperopia, presbyopia and astigmatism. Its flagship brands are Varilux(R), Crizal(R), Essilor(R), Definity(R) and Xperio(TM).

Based in France, the company reported consolidated revenue of more than EUR3.2 billion in 2009, with 34,700 employees and operations in 100 countries.

For more information, please visit http://www.essilor.com.

The Essilor share trades on the NYSE Euronext Paris market and is included in the CAC 40 index.

Codes and symbols: ISIN: FR FR0000121667; Reuters: ESSI.PA; Bloomberg: EI:FP.

Investor Relations and Financial Communications

Veronique Gillet - Sebastien Leroy

Phone: [phone]

http://www.essilor.com

Copyright 2010 PR Newswire