
Essilorluxottica to buy Optegra eyecare clinics
Essilorluxottica has entered an agreement to buy Optegra ophthalmic clinics from MidEuropa, as the Franco-Italian eyewear group aims to expand in the medical technology industry, the companies said on Friday.
Financial details of the transaction, which is expected to close later this year, were not disclosed.
The Optegra group operates a network of over 70 eye hospitals and diagnostic facilities in the UK, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and the Netherlands under the Optegra, Lexum and Iris brands.
It serves both publicly reimbursed and private-pay patients, providing treatments and vision correction procedures such as cataract surgery, age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma treatments, refractive lens replacement and laser eye surgery.
"With the acquisition of Optegra, we are stepping into a new frontier – one where comprehensive eyecare, advanced diagnostics, therapeutic interventions and surgical treatments come together in one seamless platform", Essilorluxottica CEO Francesco Milleri and deputy CEO Paul du Saillant said in a statement.
Essilorluxottica was advised by Rothschild for the transaction.
It is aiming to expand beyond its traditional lenses and sunglasses products, into complementary sectors characterised by a strong technological component, such as Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses or hearing aids applied to glasses.
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A 'reasoned opinion' - the next step when a member state fails to comply - followed in 2014, and then, bureaucratic silence. MEPs who repeatedly questioned the lack of progress in the European Parliament (EP) were met with 'vague and unsatisfactory answers', according to the complaint. For Valentina Palmisano, an MEP from Puglia, elected with the Five Star Movement in Italy, which is part of the Left Group in the European Parliament, this situation is unacceptable. 'European law cannot be applied selectively and Taranto cannot be treated as a rights-free zone,' she tells Euronews Green. Palmisano believes the Commission's prolonged inaction is politically motivated. 'On the one hand, it shields itself from responsibility by pointing to the fact that an infringement procedure has been open since 2013, as if this absolves it from the ongoing health and environmental consequences of ILVA's operations. 'On the other hand, it avoids referring Italy to the CJEU (Court of Justice of the European Union) because steel production remains politically sensitive and strategically important in the context of EU industrial policy.' There is concerted pressure within the EU to boost domestic steel production - in response to Trump's tariffs, Chinese steel dumping, and the shadow of war across Europe. On 7 May this year - the same day one of Ilva's two blast furnaces exploded - the Commission 'decided to send an additional letter of formal notice to Italy.' For campaigners, it was again far too little, far too late. In fact, the complaint from Palmisano and PeaceLink describes it as a backwards step in the infringement process. They say the Commission has failed to ensure legal enforcement and must now finally take Italy to the CJEU. 'Taranto has been sacrificed on the altar of economic interests, at the expense of health, dignity, and the fundamental rights of its inhabitants,' says Marescotti. Alongside this administrative approach, Taranto residents, spurred on by the premature deaths of family and friends, have pursued collective action to stem Ilva's pollution. A report by Sentieri, an epidemiological monitoring group, found that between 2005 and 2012, 3,000 deaths were directly linked to exposure to pollutants from the plant - including benzene, heavy metals, and dioxins. Cancer and excess overall mortality are well above regional averages, with childhood leukaemia nearly 50 per cent above expected levels. A case brought by members of the Taranto Parents Association, including Castellana, was referred by the Milan district court to the CJEU for clarification. In a landmark ruling on 24 June last year - applicable to tens of thousands of sites in the EU - the top court said that operations must be suspended where there are serious threats to the environment and human health. This ruling was brought back to the Tribunale di Milano for a hearing on 22 May, but no final decision has been reached yet. Castellana remains hopeful, but the Ombudsman complaint describes the case as being stuck in the bureaucratic hinterland that seems to surround Ilva. In short, the complainants write, 'The case remains pending, the ILVA steel plant continues to operate and pollute, and the ILVA infringement procedure is still ongoing.' The steel plant, which coats Taranto in fine red iron ore dust, appears to have left its mark on all living things. The food chain has been corrupted, Castellana claims. A decade ago, the impact on livestock was a major concern, with thousands of sheep and goats culled after cheese made from their milk was found to contain dioxins above legal limits. Now, a source with knowledge of the issue says, mussels are the most enduring bearers of dioxins in the environment. They grow in Mar Picolo ('Small Sea'), an enclosed coastal lagoon where the filter feeders accumulate dioxins in their bodies that are stuck in the sediment. Air pollution has fluctuated and improved over the years, notably around 2013, the source says, but Taranto is still awaiting remediation of its air, soil, and water. In its call for buyers of Ilva, which remains under special administration, the Italian government stipulates that the new owner must decarbonise the plant in line with the EU's goals. Palmisano, however, thinks it should be nationalised; in order 'to align industrial production with real ecological transition, based on green hydrogen, not gas, and finally undertake the necessary remediation of the ILVA site.' 'No transition is credible without first addressing the environmental and health devastation already caused,' she says. Other campaigners want to see Ilva closed altogether, and its workers supported to transition into other sectors, bringing a dirty chapter to an end. Their determination endures. Marescotti has previously said he owes his strength to always go on to his father, who was a partisan in the anti-fascist resistance against Mussolini. Castellana says he would never move away from Taranto, 'because Taranto is my mother. And a mother should not be abandoned.' 'We demand justice,' he says. 'We owe it to the little Tarantinos who are no longer here, to those who are suffering today, and to future generations that we want to be able to live in health and enjoy the sublime beauty of Taranto.' The European Commission and the Italian government have been contacted for comment. Glacier-related risks are becoming a global concern, according to Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). Speaking at the Glacier Preservation Conference in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, Saulo emphasised that all countries, regardless of development level, face threats linked to glacial change. A recent disaster in the Swiss village of Blatten illustrated the dangers. A glacier-triggered mudslide devastated the area, destroying nearly all livelihoods. One person remains missing, but early warning systems were credited with reducing the overall impact. In response to accelerating climate change, the WMO is urging increased investment in glacier monitoring and forecasting. Saulo highlighted the need for greater awareness and support for hydrometeorological centres worldwide. 'With better monitoring, we can expect to have better forecasts, with those we can expect to have better early warning systems in the end to protect societies, protect people and to protect livelihoods,' she said. Just last week, Blatten was buried under a massive avalanche of rock and ice from the Birch Glacier and the nearby Lonza River bed. Experts had issued warnings about the potential collapse of the glacier, which contained 1.5 million cubic metres of ice. Local authorities acted quickly, evacuating around 300 people and livestock. A few days after the event, the Lonza River resumed its flow through the debris. The Blatten collapse is not an isolated event. In 2022, a chunk of the Marmolada glacier in Italy's Dolomite Mountains - roughly the size of an apartment building - broke off during a summer heat wave. The resulting avalanche swept through a popular hiking area, killing 11 people. In 2016, a glacier in Tibet's Aru mountain range suddenly collapsed, killing nine people and their livestock. A few months later, another glacier in the region gave way. Glacier collapses have also occurred in Peru. In 2006, one triggered a mini tsunami, and in April of this year, an overflowing glacial lagoon caused a landslide that killed two people. 'It's amazing sometimes how rapidly they can collapse,' Lonnie Thompson, a glacier expert at the Ohio State University, told the AP. 'The instability of these glaciers is a real and growing problem, and there are thousands and thousands of people that are at risk.' While melting glaciers are expected to contribute to sea level rise for decades, scientists warn that the loss of inland glaciers poses immediate risks to nearby communities that depend on them for drinking water and agriculture.