Cole National sells Pearle Europe shares

Milan, Italy-After acquiring Cole National Corp. in October, Luxottica Group SpA says its new subsidiary has sold all of its shares in Pearle Europe BV to HAL Holding NV for about $191 million.

Luxottica officials said the sale was required by the Articles of Association of Pearle Europe in light of the acquisition. HAL owned about 19% of Cole National; the deal allows the Dutch investment company to increase its ownership of Pearle Europe to about 99%.

Pearle Europe operates more than 1,000 outlets in about 11 European countries.