CZECH REP. LS Travel Retail has acquired the duty free interests of Unimex at Prague Ruzyně International Airport. The move consolidates the group’s strong position in the Czech Republic, said LS.
The Unimex portfolio of 15 stores across Terminals 1 & 2 at Prague Airport includes core duty free stores as well as a substantial presence in fashion. The transaction is effective today, 2 January.
LS Travel Retail said it plans to re-develop several stores over the coming months, subject to further negotiation with Prague Airport authorities.
Unimex’s total duty free sales at the airport reached over CZK600 million CZK (€24 million) in 2010 and will further boost LS Travel Retail’s operations in the Czech Republic, where the division already operates a portfolio of over 250 stores, across several transportation networks in the country.
These operations include the group’s own established retail concepts – such as Relay, Aelia Duty Free and Inmedio – as well as a significant food & beverage business through the master franchise for the whole Czech Republic of Paul bakery and patisserie concept and Costa Coffee. LS Travel Retail’s current total sales across its operations in the Czech Republic are around €120 million a year.
LS Travel Retail created Aelia Czech Republic in 2010, following the acquisition of the duty free activities of CSA (Czech Airlines), and said it drove improvements in performance of over +30% in its newly acquired stores. Currently, Aelia Czech Republic operates three shops at Prague Airport, as well as two stores at Ostrava Airport and a single shop in Karlovy Vary Airport; it also runs the inflight business for CSA.
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LS Travel Retail already operates Aelia Duty Free-branded stores at Prague Airport after acquiring the duty free activities of CSA Czech Airlines in 2010; it says sales have climbed sharply since then |
In the Czech Republic, in the first half of 2011, LS Travel Retail’s sales across airports, railways and the metro rose by +15%, with sales per passenger for duty free and luxury in airports growing by +27% compared with the previous period.
Vincent Romet, COO of LS Travel Retail EMEA, said: “We are delighted to seize this exciting opportunity to expand our operations in the Czech Republic, particularly in growing our presence in core Duty Free and Fashion. We have strong local teams in our operations across the region and have a full and effective understanding of the needs of both travellers and airports in Central and Eastern Europe. Wherever we have undertaken new contracts and locations we have displayed a proven record in achieving significant increases in sales performance and we are fully confident that we can deliver similar success in our expanded presence at Prague Airport.
“Through our growth in the Czech Republic and other countries across the region, we have also developed a substantial platform from which we can further expand our ambitions for growth.
“As a global group, we continue to seize every viable opportunity to expand our business and we look forward to further consolidating our growth strategy not only through enhanced performance at each location but also through further acquisitions, where appropriate.”
LS Travel Retail has a strong presence across the region, operating stores in a dozen countries in Europe including in Poland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria.
Patria Corporate Finance acted as the advisor for LS Travel Retail in this transaction. Unimex’s duty free operations at Prague have been managed by a subsidiary, UGAir, and the group still operates a number of border stores in the Czech Republic. The Unimex group was established in 1991 and has become one of the largest private companies in the Czech Republic with an extensive range of operations, including building, tourism and branded merchandise.
In other news, LS Travel Retail has confirmed news – first revealed by The Moodie Report – of its concession win at La Reunion Roland Garros Airport. It took over the duty free concession there on 1 December in partnership with Servair and will operate a 225sq m store.
Romet said: “We are proud and delighted to be selected by SA Aeroport de La Réunion Roland Garros to operate the duty free store. In addition, the partnership with Servair is ideally suited to optimizing this opportunity at Roland Garros and provides a powerful platform to launch our shared growth ambitions in the Indian Ocean and Africa.”
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