PARIS (Reuters) - The board of directors at EssilorLuxottica, which is in the midst of a power tussle, said it had voted against recent proposals to appoint new board members to help resolve its governance issues.
EssilorLuxottica said it had met to review proposals by Valoptec - which represents current and former employees - and other institutional investors such as management company Phitrust to appoint new independent board members, but had decided to reject the suggestions.
EssilorLuxottica is due to hold a shareholder meeting on May 16.
"The board of directors recommended at the majority that the shareholders vote against all the proposed resolutions which, if approved, would result in a clear breach of the combination agreement and in a potential disruption for the activities of the board," EssilorLuxottica said in a statement on Wednesday.
The group that resulted from last year's merger of French spectacles group Essilor and Italian peer, which created the world's largest eyewear maker in a 54 billion euro ($60.4 billion) deal, has been embroiled in a bitter dispute as each side accuses the other of trying to dominate.