(Bloomberg) -- EssilorLuxottica SA Chief Executive Officer Francesco Milleri said he’s open to Italy buying a stake in the eyewear company at a time when the government’s ability to influence corporate affairs is already in the spotlight. 

A move by the government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to invest in French-Italian EssilorLuxottica, the world’s leading producer of eyeglasses and contact lenses, would be welcome, Milleri said in an interview with daily La Repubblica published on Thursday. 

EssilorLuxottica shares fell as much as 4.8% in early trading Thursday. The company reported financial results late Wednesday, including full-year margins just below analysts’ estimates. 

Milleri’s comments come in the wake of a tussle over control at multinational automaker Stellantis NV, where the French government’s holding has led to Italian demands for a counterbalance. Stellantis owns brands including Peugeot and Fiat. 

From a role in the deal to buy Telecom Italia SpA’s network to the sale of a stake in ITA Airways and attempts to restrict the role of Chinese owners at Pirelli SpA, Meloni’s government has taken an unusually active approach to corporate affairs. 

France’s state-backed investment bank BPI bought a stake in EssilorLuxottica in 2021 in a bid to give the government a bigger voice in governance at the company, which was forged through the merger of Italy’s Luxottica and France’s Essilor in 2018.

The French government has consistently supported the firm’s decisions, Milleri told La Repubblica, and he said he envisaged the Italian government doing the same. 

--With assistance from Antonio Vanuzzo.

(Updates with share decline in third paragraph)

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