Ray-Ban heir’s €10bn bid sets stage for family empire showdown

MILAN: The battle for one of Europe’s biggest fortunes is coming into sharp focus, and this family feud is anything but spectacle-free. Just days before a crucial shareholder meeting, the heirs to the empire behind Ray-Ban are locked in a high-stakes struggle that could reshape the ownership structure of a business network worth more than €40 billion.

At the centre of the dispute is Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio, the 31-year-old son of late billionaire Leonardo Del Vecchio, who built eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica into a global powerhouse housing brands such as Ray-Ban and Oakley.

Following the founder’s death in 2022, control of the family’s assets passed to multiple heirs through Luxembourg-based holding company Delfin Sarl. What was intended to ensure stability has instead sparked an increasingly public succession battle.

Leonardo Maria is seeking to acquire the combined 25 per cent stakes held by siblings Luca Del Vecchio and Paola Del Vecchio in a deal valued at roughly €10 billion. If completed, the transaction would increase his ownership stake in Delfin to 37.5 per cent, making him by far the largest shareholder and giving him significant influence over the family’s vast investment empire.

To finance the buyout, Leonardo Maria has assembled a debt package reportedly backed by major European lenders including UniCredit, BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole. The financing ranks among the largest acquisition loans ever pursued by an individual in Europe.

What began as a family restructuring plan has now evolved into a public governance dispute. In an open letter published through Quotidiano Nazionale, a media group he controls, Leonardo Maria accused Delfin’s board of changing its position after initially signalling support for the transaction.

“The issue stopped being financial and became a matter of governance,” he wrote, arguing that lenders had sought reasonable assurances on long-term strategy and dividend policy, but that the board had failed to provide a clear and consistent response.

The stakes extend far beyond the eyewear business. Through Delfin, the family controls significant holdings in some of Italy’s most influential financial institutions, including Assicurazioni Generali, UniCredit, Mediobanca and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

Any shift in control could influence future mergers, boardroom dynamics and strategic decisions across large parts of Italy’s financial sector.

According to a report by La Repubblica on Sunday, Delfin chairman Francesco Milleri is considering an alternative plan under which the holding company would buy back the stakes being sold by Luca and Paola Del Vecchio for about €10 billion and redistribute them among the remaining six heirs. The proposal could be brought before shareholders at the 30 June annual meeting, the report said.

Rather than allowing Leonardo Maria to consolidate power, the repurchased shares would then be redistributed equally among the remaining six heirs. Such a move would preserve the existing balance of power within the family and effectively block any single shareholder from emerging as the dominant force.

Attention is now fixed on Delfin’s annual shareholder meeting on 30 June, where the competing visions for the company’s future could come to a head. Whether shareholders back Leonardo Maria’s bold consolidation plan or opt for a more balanced ownership structure, the outcome is likely to determine not only the future of the Del Vecchio dynasty but also the direction of some of Europe’s most strategically important corporate assets.