Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio, 31, has offered $11.5 billion to buy out his siblings’ stake in Delfin, the family holding company behind the Ray-Ban and Luxottica empire. The bid is aimed at the 25% holding jointly owned by his siblings, Luca and Paola Del Vecchio, and comes amid a bitter dispute over control of one of Italy’s most powerful financial groups.
Del Vecchio, the son of late Luxottica founder Leonardo Del Vecchio, said in a public letter that Delfin’s board was blocking his succession plan. He issued the letter days before a decisive shareholders meeting on June 30, arguing that the matter had shifted from a financial issue to one of corporate governance. He also accused management of raising objections only after shareholders had already backed the deal’s core principles.
If the purchase is completed, his stake in Delfin would rise from 12.5% to 37.5%, making him the largest shareholder and ending years of management uncertainty since his father died in June 2022. At that time, the estate was divided equally among eight heirs, a structure that required broad consensus and quickly led to deadlock.
Delfin owns about 32.4% of EssilorLuxottica and also holds significant stakes in major financial groups including UniCredit, Generali, and Monte dei Paschi di Siena. To finance the transaction, Del Vecchio needs to raise about $11.4 billion from a banking syndicate that includes UniCredit, BNP Paribas, and Crédit Agricole, in what could become one of the largest private financing deals ever arranged in Europe.
