CHARENTON-LE-PONT, France, May 19, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Sperian Protection's Board of Directors agreed this morning to accept Honeywell's voluntary tender offer to acquire 100% of its capital at a price of EUR117 per share.

Essilor has agreed to sell all of its Sperian Protection shares to Honeywell in an off-market transaction, based on the offering price of EUR117 per share, subject to certain conditions (approval from the European and US regulatory authorities, as well as the French Ministry of the Economy, Industry and Employment).

The world leader in ophthalmic optical products, Essilor International researches, develops, manufactures and markets around the world a wide range of lenses to improve and protect eyesight. Its flagship brands are Varilux(R), Crizal(R), Essilor(R), Definity(R) and Xperio(TM).

Based in France, the company reported consolidated revenue of more than EUR3.2 billion in 2009, with 34,700 employees and operations in 100 countries.

For more information, please visit http://www.essilor.com.

The Essilor share trades on the NYSE Euronext Paris market and is included in the CAC 40 index.

Codes and symbols: ISIN: FR FR0000121667; Reuters: ESSI.PA; Bloomberg: EI:FP.

Investor Relations and Financial Communications Veronique Gillet - Sebastien Leroy Phone: +33-(0)1-49-77-42-16 invest@essilor.com

SOURCE: Essilor

CONTACT: Investor Relations and Financial Communications, Veronique Gillet- Sebastien Leroy,Phone: +33-(0)1-49-77-42-16, invest@essilor.com