Essilux considers climbing up to 20 per cent in Nikon

EssilorLuxottica could grow its shareholding in Nikon. The indiscretion, reported by Bloomberg, is based on a request bythe Italian-French group to the authority to be allowed to rise above 10%, from around 9% currently, to a maximum of 20%. The operation, according to sources quoted by the press agency, would be the subject of discussions between the group and the Japanese government, given the sensitivity of certain technologies developed by Nikon. And naturally, the management of the Japanese group would also be informed of the negotiations underway, since Essilor and Nikon have a 20-year partnership, which has also led to the joint venture, equally controlled and based in Tokyo, Nikon-Essilor for the production of lenses. The JV founded in 2000 has since 2009 been joined by a commitment to a joint research centre where the two groups develop R&D activities in the fields of materials, optics and ophthalmology, integrating Nikon's expertise in the precision micro-lithography machinery essential for the production of image sensors, integrated circuits and liquid crystal panels and in photographic products with Essilor's expertise in ophthalmic technology.

The group led by Francesco Milleri began accumulating shares in the Japanese company as early as last August, taking a 5.1 per cent stake in October. The period, however, is not the rosiest for Nikon, which in early August almost halved its annual estimates due to a slowdown in its imaging and healthcare divisions. On the lithography front, the company has fallen behind Asml, the world's only supplier of state-of-the-art semiconductor Euv systems, while it continues to face competition from Canon in the low-cost legacy chip market. Nikon's strategy is to rationalise its activities by focusing on lithography and professional high-definition cinema, but advances in lithography require very high upfront investments, linked to the nanometric precision required. Asml itself, for example, has spent decades investing and partnering with Intel, Samsung and Tsmc to develop Euv (extreme ultraviolet lithography).

As a result, the company's shares have fallen more than 11% since the beginning of the year in Tokyo, and the current prices could represent an interesting opportunity for EssilorLuxottica to increase its shareholding. EssilorLuxottica is interested in continuing its partnership with the Japanese group with a view to the future development of intelligent glasses, an area in which it is also moving with its partnership with Meta. With the latter, the shareholding intertwinement would not see the group led by Francesco Milleri as a partner in Mark Zuckerberg's company, as the latter is present in the shareholding structure of Essilux with about 3%, according to rumours. The official announcement of the investment would only be made if Meta were to rise to 5%, thus making market disclosure compulsory.

Returning to the operation of the eyewear group in the Land of the Rising Sun, official confirmation is currently lacking and the growth of the stake is not yet quantifiable. What is certain is that there is interest in a group that boasts key competences in optics used both for the engraving of circuits on semiconductors and for photography. EssilorLuxottica, in fact, is continuing on the path of smart glasses also due to the positive market response with sales of Ray-Ban Meta more than tripling in the first six months of 2025. The group also launched the Nuance Audio line of acoustic glasses and presented Oakley Meta, extending its collaboration with Meta Platforms to the sports segment.