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“This announcement could not have been a better milestone to complete 2013“ |
Julián Díaz CEO Dufry |
GREECE. Dufry has signed an agreement to acquire the remaining 49% equity stake of Hellenic Duty Free from Folli Follie Group.
As reported, Dufry completed the acqusition of 51% of Hellenic Duty Free, Greece’s leading travel retailer, on 22 April.
Dufry will pay €328 million through a combination of cash and shares for the balance of the holding.
In the first step, announced on 10 October 2012, Dufry revealed the acquisition of the 51% stake with an option to acquire the remaining 49% in 2016. After the first-phase transaction was completed this April, Dufry both controlled and managed the Greek company.
Dufry said that the transaction will enable it to achieve additional synergies by further streamlining logistics and purchasing. The company will also refurbish and expand retail space in key Greek airports, including Athens, Thessaloniki, Rhodes and Crete.
In connection with this transaction, Dufry has entered into a €500 million term loan with a group of banks for a duration of five years. The proceeds will be used to finance the €175 million cash portion of the acquisition, as well as to repay Hellenic’s local bank financing in Greece of €335 million.
Dufry CEO Julián Díaz said: “This announcement could not have been a better milestone to complete the year of 2013, which was full of important achievements for the Group.
“The acquisition of the remaining 49% of Hellenic Duty Free allows us to achieve further synergies on the operational level and generates financing savings of approximately CHF10 million (US$11.27 million) per annum. With Folli Follie Group joining as a long-term shareholder of Dufry, we further strengthen our core shareholder base.”
Folli Follie intends to join the group of shareholders led by Travel Retail Investments SCA. The Board of Directors of Dufry has also agreed to nominate George Koutsolioutsos for election to the Board at the 2014 Annual General Meeting.
Hellenic Duty Free is the leading travel retailer in Greece, with 111 shops and over 18,000sq m of retail space within an ultra-long term concession portfolio. The business generates more than 80% of its turnover from international customers, led by Germans and British.
For the first nine months of 2013, international tourists increased by +10% year-on-year. For the period since the initial consolidation in April through to September 2013, the Hellenic operation has contributed CHF274 million (US$308.7 million) in revenue to Dufry, which said it expects to achieve an incremental €10 million synergies as a result of the full acquisition.
See today’s issue of The Moodie Report e-Zine for comment and analysis.
