Deal Reporter
Lagardere Travel Retail wants to make buys to strengthen its global position - CEO
Lagardere Travel Retail, the airport retailer in France, is eyeing acquisitions to strengthen its market position globally, according to Chairman and CEO Dag Rasmussen.
The company, which had 1H15 sales of EUR 1.6bn, is monitoring opportunities across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North America to expand its footprint and bring synergies, the chairman told Mergermarket, without elaborating. Known as Lagardere Services till recently, the company is interested in existing as well as new markets.
The company, a part of listed French media and sports group Lagardere [MMB FP] and also its largest division in terms of sales, has a particularly strong appetite for buys in its duty-free and luxury business division, the CEO said. Its other two business segments -- travel essentials and food services -- are also expected to expand significantly; but that could largely be through organic growth.
Buys of up to EUR 300m could be financed through its own resources while larger acquisitions would be financed through a combination of own resources and bank financing.
Lagardere Travel Retail works with external advisers and receives pitches from advisers regularly, Rasmussen said, without naming any.
The company is also interested in setting up joint ventures to operate airport retail and food businesses. This could, for example, combine Lagardere’s expertise with a local operator’s market knowledge, he pointed out.
Lagardere Travel Retail is not looking at South America since its competitors have a strong position in that region and it would be more difficult to penetrate that huge market, the CEO noted. Lagardere Travel Retail has three divisions: duty-free and luxury, travel essentials and food services. It operates outlets at 150 airports worldwide, including under the shop brands Relay and Aelia Duty Free.
In 2013 Lagardere Travel Retail acquired a 50% stake in Airest, which operates food and beverage and travel retail outlets in 11 countries. It bought Gerzon with 12 fashion boutiques at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam last year.
It announced last month the sale of subsidiary Curtis Circulation Company, a US-based magazine distributor, to its management team. This was part of its strategy to focus on travel retail business.