Essilor finalizes six new partnerships in North America and Latin America

Regulatory News:

Essilor International (Paris:EI) is pursuing its strategy of forging local partnerships with the signing of six new transactions in the United States, Canada and Brazil that represent combined full-year revenue of approximately €38 million.

In the United States, the Company completed three new partnerships. Essilor acquired majority stakes in two prescription laboratories – R. D. Cherry in Michigan and Plunkett Optical in Arkansas – that generate revenue of, respectively $9.8 million and $3.3 million. Essilor also acquired a majority share in Frame Displays, a company that designs, manufactures and distributes display furniture and accessories for optical stores, with revenue of $4.5 million.

In Canada, Essilor strengthened its distribution network by signing a partnership agreement with Riverside Optical, a group of prescription laboratories that operates in Quebec and Ontario, with revenue of C$26 million. The agreement will allow Riverside to enhance its product portfolio and speed the Company's local development in the mid-range segment. The Company also forged a partnership with Benson Edwards Optical Lab and CPS 360 Optical Lab, two Ontario-based prescription laboratories with revenue of nearly C$3 million.

Lastly, in Brazil, Essilor reinforced its geographic coverage with the signing of a partnership agreement with Comprol, which generates revenue of €5.4 million. This prescription laboratory is the Company's first facility in the Federal District (Brasilia) whose 2.5 million inhabitants have the highest average income of any state in the country.

Commenting on these new transactions, Hubert Sagnières, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Essilor, said: "With 27 new transactions, the partnership strategy was especially active in 2013, thereby enabling Essilor to strengthen its ties with eye care professionals around the world and to deploy its mission of improving eyesight. In an optics market that remains highly fragmented, Essilor will continue to develop its regional deployment model, which is unique and creates value for the Company’s shareholders.”

About Essilor

The world’s leading ophthalmic optics company, Essilor designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of lenses to improve and protect eyesight. Its corporate mission is to enable everyone around the world to access lenses that meet his or her unique vision requirements. To support this mission, the Company allocates more than €150 million to research and innovation every year, in a commitment to continuously bring new, more effective products to market. Essilor’s flagship brands are Varilux^®, Crizal^®, Definity^®, Xperio^®, Optifog^TM and Foster Grant^®. It also develops and markets equipment, instruments and services for eyecare professionals.

Essilor reported consolidated revenue of more than €5 billion in 2013 and employs more than 50,000 people. It operates in some 100 countries with 22 plants, more than 400 prescription laboratories and edging facilities, as well as several research and development centers around the world.

For more information, please visit www.essilor.com.

The Essilor share trades on the NYSE Euronext Paris market and is included in the Euro Stoxx 50 and CAC 40 indices.

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