GC Influencers
Most Influential GCs - Global-wide
Alexander Lunshof of Essilor International SA
Alexander Lunshof, who currently serves as chief legal officer to French ophthalmic optics company Essilor, is an experienced hand in dealing with legal issues facing businesses in highly regulated industries. After almost a decade at Coudert Brothers, practicing in the firm’s New York, Paris and Beijing outposts, he joined Orange and quickly rose up the ladder at the French telecoms company, leading its M&A group and then serving as general counsel to Orange Business Services. His combination of regulatory expertise and transactional nous came to the fore last year in Essilor’s EUR48 billion merger with Italian eyewear brand Luxottica, a global transaction that required careful shepherding through an array of competition regulators worldwide. He and the legal team followed on from the Luxottica merger with advising on the business’ international expansion, tying up deals which saw the company expand its reach in Europe and Latin America through the investments into Germany’s Brille24, Greece’s Union Optic, Ecuador’s Indulentes and Argentina’s Metalizado Optico. Commentators report: “He has many qualities, but the most outstanding one for me is his workload. He works like a madman, but he’s on top of all the matters and he has a real capacity to delegate.”