Four shareholders in Delfin, the investment vehicle of Italy's Del Vecchio family and the largest investor in eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica , have rejected an offer from shareholder Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio to buy their stakes, Italian news agencies reported on Monday.

In a letter the shareholders said they were not interested in considering or discussing the proposed transaction, AGI newswire reported, citing financial sources According to AGI, the four shareholders are Clemente Del Vecchio, Rocco Basilico, Luca Del Vecchio and Paola Del Vecchio The move is the latest development in a dispute among the heirs of billionaire Leonardo Del Vecchio over the future of Luxembourg-based Delfin, in which each of the eight heirs holds a 12.5% stake In a letter published by Italian newspaper QN, Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio offered to buyout his fellow shareholders after securing a financing of up to €22 billion ($24.62 billion) from Citi to fund the acquisition Del Vecchio's goal is to acquire five or six shareholdings, a person close to the businessman told Reuters on Monday The proposal aims to safeguard the legacy built by his father, Del Vecchio said, and comes after a €30 billion bid for Delfin by Czech businessman Michal Strnad last week Delfin is the largest shareholder in Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica, with a 32.4% stake.

It also owns a 10% stake in Italian insurer Generali (GASI.MI), a 17.5% stake in Italian lender Monte dei Paschi (BMPS.MI) and a small stake in UniCredit (CRDI.MI), for a combined current market value of around €43 billion