Switzerland’s Dufry AG agreed to buy a majority stake in Italian airport retailer World Duty Free SpA to expand globally in a 1.3 billion-euro ($1.4 billion) deal.
Edizione Srl, a holding company controlled by the Benetton family, and its investment vehicle Schematrentaquattro SpA agreed to sell the 50.1 per cent stake for 10.25 euros a share, according to an e-mailed statement. The price represents a premium of about 22 percent on the volume-weighted average share price in the past six months, the statement said.
The closing of the sale, expected in the third quarter, is subject to the approval by Dufry’s shareholders of a capital increase aimed at partially financing the transaction and the approval of antitrust authorities. Dufry will then start a mandatory bid for the rest of the shares.
Acquiring World Duty Free, which operates stores at airports including London’s Heathrow and Gatwick, would create a business with projected annual sales of about $9 billion. Dufry Chief Executive Officer Julian Diaz has expanded the Swiss company through about a dozen acquisitions in the past decade, creating a dominant operator in the field of travel retailing. It acquired Hudson News, a chain of U.S. airport shops, in 2008.
World Duty Free operates 495 stores in 19 countries and 98 airports across the world, according to its website. The Benetton family has held a controlling 50.1 percent stake since the company was spun off from Autogrill SpA and began trading independently in 2013.
The Swiss company was in advanced talks to acquire World Duty Free, people familiar with the matter said on Feb. 20, asking not to be identified because the talks were private. Other potential bidders had included buyout firm KKR & Co. and French media group Lagardere SCA, people said in January.
World Duty Free closed at 10.96 euros on Friday in Milan trading, giving it a market value of 2.8 billion euros. Edizione and Schematrentaquattro were assisted by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, while World Duty Free was advised by Deutsche Bank AG.
News by Bloomberg, edited by ESM
