Del Vecchio heirs approve $12 bln buyout of two siblings, source says (updated)

EssilorLuxottica SA

27/04/2026 12:09

Majority of heirs approve plan to buy out two family members

Ray-Ban president to boost stake in family holding company

Deal could ease decision-making at EssiLux owner Delfin

Recasts throughout with details

By Elisa Anzolin and Elvira Pollina

MILAN, April 27 (Reuters) - The late Ray-Ban billionaire Leonardo Del Vecchio's heirs backed a deal on Monday to hand one of his children greater sway over the world's largest eyewear group EssilorLuxottica ESLX.PA, a source close to the matter said.

The family holding company Delfin owns a controlling 32.4% stake in the $100 billion Franco-Italian giant. The ownership reshuffle could also have broader implications for other, non-core investments, including Italian insurer Generali GASI.MI and banks Monte dei Paschi di Siena BMPS.MI and UniCredit CRDI.MI.

Under the proposal, which the source said Delfin shareholders voted on at a meeting on Monday, Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio is set to buy out siblings Paola and Luca through an investment vehicle, having lined up roughly 10 billion euros  ($12 billion) in bank financing for the move.

Leonardo Del Vecchio - the founder of the family empire, who died in 2022 - divided Delfin equally among his six children, as well as his widow and her son from another marriage. Each owns 12.5% of Delfin.

The company has been locked in a governance stalemate since Leonardo Del Vecchio's death, and a buyout that hands his 30-year-old son a 37.5% stake could streamline future decisions at the Luxembourg-based vehicle.

Il Sole 24 Ore daily reported that six out of eight heirs voted in favour of the move. It was not immediately clear if the vote is sufficient to finalise the plan, given the role played by lenders.

STAKE SHAKE-UP COULD BREAK DELFIN GRIDLOCK

Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio is the only one among the heirs holding a senior management position at EssilorLuxottica where he is president of the Ray-Ban brand.

EssilorLuxottica CEO Francesco Milleri, Del Vecchio's former right-hand man, chairs the Delfin board, which has been gridlocked since the Luxottica founder's death.

The rigid rules put in place to split Delfin among his heirs require a very strong majority or near‑unanimous approval for key decisions.

Those rules have capped dividends at 10% of profits and prevented changes to the board, giving Milleri power to deploy cash flows from EssilorLuxottica to expand Delfin's investments in the financial sector.

In the past two years, Delfin has emerged as a key actor in the consolidation wave reshaping Italian banking.

The lack of consensus has blocked shareholders from playing a more active strategic role or unlocking Delfin's large reserves, 7 billion euros of which Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio told the Financial Times newspaper last month could be used to pay a special dividend.

On Monday, seven out of the eight heirs voted to approve a second proposal under discussion: distributing as dividends 80% of Delfin's profits over the 2025 to 2027 period, Il Sole 24 Ore reported.

($1 = 0.8511 euros)

 (Writing by Valentina Za; Editing by Gianluca Semeraro, Gavin Jones and Joe Bavier)

 ((valentina.za@thomsonreuters.com; +39 02 6612 9526;))