Meta is reportedly in talks with Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica to take a minority stake in the company. The move is seen as doubling down on a partnership that created the Meta Ray-Ban smartglasses.
The report, which comes from the Wall Street Journal, alleges Meta is currently considering a stake of about 5% of the Italian-French luxury eyewear group.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the report maintains the investment is not an assured deal, however if it goes through, it could be worth €4.33 billion euros ($4.73 billion) based on EssilorLuxottica’s latest market value of €86.50 billion euros.
This follows news that Meta has restructured its Reality Labs XR division to better focus on smartglasses and other wearables.
Moving forward, Reality Labs has been divided into a central ‘Metaverse’ organization, responsible for Quest, and the new ‘Wearables’ organization to dedicated to other hardware, including its Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses.
The Meta Ray-Ban smartglasses currently on sale is a second-gen follow-up to its Facebook Ray-Ban Stories glasses released in 2021, which includes improved cameras, audio and more design options.
Notably, Meta Ray-Ban smartglasses lack any sort of display, meaning user input is handled by voice assistant or by basic touch on the glasses’ struts for things like taking pictures, videos, and listening to music.
What they do have though is iconic styling backed by a wide consumer appeal, something Meta would have trouble generating on its own. A minority stake in EssilorLuxottica could not only allow the company wider access to a host of sub-brands too, but also its retail locations that span Sunglass Hut, LensCrafters, Vision Express, Pearle Vision and Target Optical.
Neither Meta nor EssilorLuxottica responded to requests for comment.