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Investing.com-- Nikon shares rose sharply on Monday after French eyewear maker EssilorLuxottica SA (EPA:ESLX) disclosed that it had increased its stake in the Japanese optics firm.
Nikon Corp. (TYO:7731) shares rose as much as 6% to 1,837.0 in Tokyo trade, compared to a nearly 5% rally in the Nikkei 225 index. Japanese shares rallied after fiscal dove Sanae Takaichi won leadership of the country’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, setting her up to become the next prime minister.
EssilorLuxottica said in a filing to the Tokyo Stock Exchange that it had increased its stake in Nikon to 10.59% from 9.47%.
Nikon’s gains were an extension of a rally from August, when Bloomberg reported that EssilorLuxottica was in talks with the Japanese government to increase its holdings in the firm, to about 20%.
Essilor had in mid-September disclosed an increase in its holdings in Nikon. The company has steadily increased its holdings in Nikon after initially taking a 5.1% stake in the Japanese firm in October 2024. The acquisition was then framed as a long-term financial investment.
The stake marked a further deepening in ties between the two companies. They had in 2000 formed a joint venture– Nikon-Essilor– which is a wholesale lens business based in Tokyo.
Essilor had over the past year pivoted heavily into manufacturing artificial intelligence-powered smart glasses with Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META). The two unveiled a new line of glasses in September.