Meta reportedly eyeing stake in Ray-Ban parent company

American tech giant Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, reportedly wants to take a 5 percent stake in EssilorLuxottica, the Financial Times (FT) reports. The French-Italian eyewear company was worth almost 89 billion euros on Thursday afternoon.

EssilorLuxottica is the firm that makes Ray-Ban eyewear and was also behind the recent acquisition of the streetwear brand Supreme. Meta wants to use the stake in EssilorLuxottica to boost its “Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses”, Reuters noted.

Ray-Ban’s “smart” glasses, developed in collaboration with Meta and notable for their AI assistance and other advanced technological tools, were launched in 2021. The glasses are available online and in select stores in the US, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy and the UK.