EUROPE. Lagardère Travel Retail has struck an agreement to acquire Nordic travel retailer and distributor Inflight Service Group’s Polish and Estonian operations.
Inflight Service (acquired earlier this year by gategroup) owns the EuroShop brand. In Poland it has five stores at Warsaw Modlin Airport, plus shops onboard Unity Line ferries. In Estonia it runs three stores at Tallinn Airport and one seaport store.
The completion of the Polish transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including regulatory approval.
Lagardère Travel Retail said in a statement: “This acquisition marks a significant expansion in the duty free activities of the company in the region. It is in line with the Lagardère Group’s strategy of expanding in growth businesses and developing retail space in travel locations.”
The move is linked to gategroup’s CHF130 million (US$126.6 million) purchase of Inflight Service, signalled last December and completed in February.
At the time, gategroup CEO Xavier Rossinyol noted that the small airport retail business operated by Inflight Service was “not contributing profitably” and was “non-core and non-strategic”, opening the way for a divestment of its operations in Estonia and Poland.
As reported last week, Tallinn Airport has called a duty free tender, with Inflight Service’s contract expiring next year. Bids are due by 29 November.
