BELGIUM/DENMARK. Leading airport food & beverage to retail concessionaire Autogrill has extended its reach into Northern Europe by taking a majority stake in Belgium’s leading concessions company Carestel. In addition, the group has opened its first outlets at Copenhagen Kastrup Airport.
On Tuesday Autogrill signed an agreement to take a 61.5% stake in Carestel Group, Belgium’s leading food & beverage concession operator, until now owned by two holding companies Assart and Megafood Participations.
The transaction involves 5,463,243 shares (out of a total 8,882,601) at a price of €5.00 per share for a total of €27.3 million, subject to certain representations and warranties. The agreement also entails the acquisition of 8,568 2009-bonds of €1,000 each, at nominal value plus accrued interest. The financial requirement of the deal will be covered by the Group’s available financial resources.
The deal will be closed upon the satisfaction of certain conditions precedent including notably clearance by the Belgian anti-trust authorities, which is expected in the last quarter of 2006, as well as no material adverse change. A cash tender offer for the remaining shares will then be made at the same conditions, with a view to de-listing the company from Euronext Brussels.
The company’s total enterprise value is of €46.9 million, between 7 and 7.5 times the 2006 estimated Ebitda, based on Autogrill’s projections.
Autogrill said: “The transaction carries forward the Autogrill European airport channel growth process begun in 2005 with its acquisition of Aldeasa, its entry into the Northern European market and expansion in countries already covered. To date, including airport locations operated by Aldeasa and those under the Carestel agreement, the Group is active in 48 European airports in Spain, Italy, Portugal, France, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Greece, Sweden and Ireland – compared to 13 airports at the beginning of 2005.”
It added: “Through Carestel, Autogrill intends to gain entry to Brussels Airport, the 20th largest airport in Europe, with over 16 million passengers in 2005. It also intends to strengthen its position in Germany entering in Hamburg (70 airlines serving 120 global destinations) and Stuttgart (60 airlines operating 400 flights a day), following the acquisition of 49.9% of Steigenberger Gastronomie GmbH in the Frankfurt hub in March of 2005. Further, the transaction should allow Autogrill into the London City Airport.”
Carestel, which posted sales of €72.9m and Ebitda of €5.3m in 2005, has around 1,100 employees and two operating divisions, Restair and Carestel Motorway Services, running its airport business (65% of sales) and motorway business (35%), respectively. The company operates at six airports in Europe and in 35 locations on Belgian and Luxembourg motorways. Carestel operates under its own brand name and licenses brands such as Pizza Hut, Java and Quick, within its CaresQuick joint venture.
In other Autogrill news, subsidiary HMSHost has secured the contract to operate three food & beverage concessions at Copenhagen Kastrup Airport.
The business will generate accumulated sales of around €50 million in the seven years of the contract. The three points of sale – with the intention to be joined by others according to both the Airport and HMSHost Europe – will be in the pre-security area and will feature some of Autogrill’s most important house and license brands, such as Ciao, Burger King and an international coffee shop concept. They are set to open by the end of Q2 2007.
The Copenhagen operation is the tenth new-entry contract since the beginning of 2005, when Autogrill started a drive to develop the airport channel in Europe with its acquisition of Aldeasa.
MORE STORIES ON AUTOGRILL
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Aldeasa’s double-digit growth buoys Autogrill in Q1; non-Spanish airport sales up +38.5% – 11/05/06
